Breaking The Broken
by Blood MoonLily
Summary: "How dare you!" She shouted, as blood flowed from her nose. Sighing, I held her down. "I'll kill you, Levi!" Levi x OC(Akiko) Cover image by the brilliant Tian Lee.
1. Captain, get a life

**This is a fic about an OC, Akiko, a new girl and a favorite of mine. The time is when Eren is in his second year of training, about six months before they meet him. He won't be in it for a while. My first SNK fic, so forgive me if it's not too good. Enjoy, and please review. **

**Levi POV**

_"Get... off of me." _She ground out, her voice shaking. Blood dripped from her nose and forehead, and I wanted to laugh.

"No." Raising my leg high and swinging it down onto her pretty face, I smiled slightly as she stuttered angrily and tried to push against the cuffs. She was surrounded in a pool of her own blood. Understandable.

"You bastard!" Her voice rang through the empty hall. I sighed. I gave her a clean uppercut, knocking out one of her teeth, and then a bruise that would probably give her a black eye for a month. She used to be so pretty, too.

She had long hair twisted into a bun with two tendrils of waist-length hair falling down. I had admired her, slightly, for being so good with a sword yet so pretty. I'm pretty sure her nickname was The Shadow in her small village. She'd had it because she moved silently.

But, the one thing I liked about her was her eyes. They were something else. Bright, sky-blue fading to black on the rims and fading to white on the inside. She was very, very pretty- and she was a complete and utter bitch to everyone who went near her.

Of course, it was simply because of Gavaldon. Well, I understood. She blamed us for the fall of Wall Maria. She blamed us for everything, and she had a warped point.

Gavaldon was a group of people who thoroughly believed in- well, foresaw- the attack of the titans. They petitioned to fight and to train all the young children. But this didn't _go down_ with people. They were lazy. They said, "why fix it, if it's not broken?", and they went on saying that.

So Gavaldon did things their own way. They used incredible techniques and superb sword skills to kill a titan even without gas or steam power. When the wall came down, Gavaldon were told to fight to save people- and if Gavaldon had said yes, there was that much more chance of us surviving. But they didn't.

Gavaldon became outcast. They refused to fight and are now hiding or dead, and the few that were taken hostage (We refused to allow them to not fight, so we attempted to take them hostage) were put into the dungeon and locked away. Eventually, there were fourteen people who were left. They wouldn't talk. They wouldn't fight.

We had decided on more of a physical threat. No more pleading or anger or tears or threats. I asked to be put in charge of their _punishment_, and I was given the role. The first person to be put under this was Akiko Kuranaya, a sweet-faced girl who I had been beating for the past half an hour. She didn't even scream, just told me to stop. Well, it could wait.

"You know what?" I ground out, grabbing her throat. "Your body is pretty clean and I think there's a lot I could do to it. It's ten AM; I have fourteen hours before I need to be in bed. Do you think you can take that? It's only been half an hour and you're not crying in pain yet. That kind of pisses me off."

"Screw you." Her hair covered her face limply, but there was blood slowly dripping from her nose. "My father told me not to help you. He gave no reason why, but said I couldn't trust anything you say. So I won't."

Angrily, I crushed my foot into her chest. "Well, guess what? I have two weeks on holiday, in this dungeon that's safe from Titans. We've got enough food here to last that long! I have everything I need to keep me entertained." 

"I'm not scared."

"You might not be, because you're an idiot. But what about that little girl in the other room?" Her head snapped up (Well, as much as it could with me pushing my foot into her neck) and I smirked. A complete bluff. We only had her and thirteen young males. Her eyes went wide and she screamed loudly. "SUZA! SUZA! SUZA!"

"W-What?"

I jerked back, and she fell silent after letting out a broken sob.

"S-Suza?" She said, suddenly sounding young. My brow furrowed slightly, and I released the tension on her throat.

"Yeah, Suza? She keeps crying about some stuffed toy she lost. She has the cutest voice." Again, I was bluffing, but I was pretty sure it would work. May as well take the risk. It sounded believable.

"Sally..." Her voice was raw. "Hey, Levi?"

"Yes?" I wondered what she was asking, and then decided I didn't care.

"Reach into my shirt, please. There's a small toy nestled in my chest and it's her little Sally teddy. I think it would help her a lot. Please? I'll exchange that for information." She had completely changed her demeanor, became pleading and I suddenly felt a small burst of guilt.

"Okay." Unbuttoning her shirt two buttons, I noticed that even if she had lost some blood, she still managed to let some flood to her cheeks. Blushing? How pathetic.

Reaching into her shirt, I tried to reach a tiny bear that wasn't nestled in her chest! It was tied into her damned brasier, and I knew she was forced to let me do this. I continued to work the buttons on her shirt free, and she spoke quietly.

"You've gone red, by the way." I gave her a dry look- pretty much the only look I ever gave anyone- and continued to work the buttons free. Wow, that teddy was tiny...

"Don't think you'll get out of here by flirting with the guard, moron."

"W-what?" She muttered. "I wasn't, you fool."

Sarcastically, I said "Yeah, right." And continued to unbutton her. By now, her shirt was pretty much undone and her teddy was nestled inbetween her breasts. Plucking it out, I noticed that she had four marks on her chest. Four round marks, one at her shoulder, one at her breast, one at her stomach and one at her waist. They looked like teeth marks.

Poking her second scar, I gazed at it. "That's some battle scar." She nodded.

"Annie. She's my little sister, and she was about to be eaten by a Titan. I was stupid and leaped into the Titan's mouth, shoved her out and then got crushed." 

"All due respect, why aren't you dead?"

"I thought quickly. I jammed my sword into the roof of its mouth, slid into the throat, then cut my way out of the throat. I came out of the neck of the Titan, but I never knew what happened to Annie."

"That is a good reflex." I pocketed the small bear, and sat back- then realized her shirt was still open. Not that it really mattered, but when the next Guard came to watch over her he would see. For some reason, I didn't want that to happen- it was probably the scars or something.

"Thanks. Hey, Levi?" I had started to button up her shirt again, and she blushed harder.

"Yes?"

"What's going to happen to me?" She sounded like a small, terrified child and I found myself looking up to stare at her pretty eyes. She looked so innocent and so kind, yet I had a sour face that never stopped glaring. I was sort of envious.

"It depends. If you resist, in the end it'll be execution. If you submit, it'll be a rank in the Scouts, with your skills."

"Ah. Well, I won't become part of your group."

I lifted myself up, staring at her. "Why?"

"I don't know. Gavaldon said I could not."

"But that's illogical and completely pathetic."

"Yeah. Just carry on beating me now." I did as the lady asked, scowling. I hated martyrs. For the rest of the day, I moved from her face to her chest. From her chest to her legs. Eventually, her entire body was purple. I sighed. No better lesson than pain, yes, but she barely even grunted when I hit her. She didn't squeak or cry.

When I hit the boys, they cried and begged for mercy. Actually, little did she know that she had the best position- as the leader, she was worth something. The boys were going to be killed if they didn't confess by the end of the week- two days.

"Shit." I heard one of the guards' mutter, when they came to inspect. "He's giving her hell, right?" What I couldn't wait for was for her to break. And yes, I wasn't a teacher who skipped over something if you didn't learn it. I was considerate. I'd teach her again and again and again.

"Now." I said, for the sixth time that day, on the sixth hour. "Ready to confess?" She couldn't even shake her head due to the pain, but her eyes shook left to right. I sighed.

"Thanks to the pain you've received, you're pretty much out of it. I'll be back tomorrow, anyway." I undid her shackles, and a guard gasped. She fell to the floor, asleep.

"Sir, I cannot allow you to leave her shackles undone!" I gestured to the girl, who was lying in a pool of blood, black and blue, quietly groaning.

"Think she's going anywhere?" He conceded, and I walked out of the room, quickly. I wanted to sleep. Six hours of beating her up really tired me out, and I would catch an early night to be fresh for punishment tomorrow. Heck, I might bandage her up so that it's worse. But opening old scars would be painful too.

I reached my temporary cabin, threw the door open and lay down on my bed. Stretching out my aching muscles, I stripped off my clothes and threw them on the floor. I drifted off to sleep in seconds, and had the first dream in years.

_That was so long ago._

_On the way back from a Scout hunt, I went past a patch of blood lilies. I couldn't stop myself, so I picked a few. When I came back, I was walking home when I accidentally took the wrong turn and faced a small door. Opening it cautiously, I found a huge meadow with two small things sticking up._

_There was a small girl standing in the meadow, looking at the flowers. She had picked daisies and dandelions but had no others. Was she making a flower crown?_

_The other was the small apple tree sapling next to her._

_I had walked over, just to take a look, and seen the little girl's face intent with concentration. She was making a flower crown. I bent down, my emotionless face staring at the beautiful flowers. I was not an attractive man at the time, being thin, emotionally dead and with grey-white skin that highlighted my stark black hair even more._

_But when she looked at me, she smiled. "Wow, pretty!" She said, tying the last daisy on the crown. "Here, have this!" She reached up (Just barely, she was a tiny thing for her age) and planted it on my head. I looked at it, sighed, and allowed a small turning up at the corners of my mouth._

_Whisking out the red lily, I held it to her nose. "I'll trade with you." I said quietly. She nodded happily, and I collapsed onto the grass, sighing. Three men had died on that trip. But here it was sweet and peaceful. It smelt of flowers. I gazed at the sky, and then at the girl. Her hair was pale pink, but that was probably the light or something. Her eyes were deep, pretty blue, like the sky. Her hair was long and sticking out in all places. She wore a little brown dress, but not an expensive-looking one. It looked threadbare._

_"Hey, mister?" Her voice was pretty, with a musical lilt to it. She probably comes from a family of people from what used to be a country. _

_"Yeah?"_

_"Can I bury you in flowers?" Wow. I couldn't decide if that was cute or morbid, but I decided I didn't care._

_"Sure, why not?" She smiled, and I dozed off in the sun eventually, unaware of her poking around my body, tying flowers into my shoelaces, weaving them into buttons... When I woke up, I looked like a flower girl._

_"Shit!" I cursed. She looked at me innocently. When I tried to pull them off, they stuck tight and wouldn't get off my buttons or laces._

_"Do you want me to take them off, mister? You do look really beautiful, though!" _

_"Ah! Yes, please." I watched her fast fingers work, marveling at how she undid them with a slip of a cord._

_"Just use your fingernails and pull, mister." Now I watched her, and I realized she did this every day. The red lily lay in a patch of daisies, like blood on white silk, and I picked it up._

_"Hey, come here." She came towards me, and I slid the lily into her plait at the back of her otherwise loose hair. It looked beautiful. On a second thought, I decided to do something stupid. I took off the necklace that was around my neck and put it onto her neck. "Sell it." It just gave me bad memories, after all._

_My necklace was a little wing charm on a silver chain. Nothing much, but… it looked valuable._

_"Now, mister, I'll put flowers in my hair every day!" She grinned. I nodded. Still pale and emotionless. Damn._

_"I have to go." I said, patting her head. "Bye." She smiled, again._

_"Are you coming back?"_

_I shrugged. "Maybe." She grinned._

_"Well, don't worry! I made you a good luck flower charm so that you'll be safe." My eyes crinkled slightly, and she tucked it into my pocket. "Levi?" She asked, quietly._

_"Yes?"_

_"See, when I come here I'm always really lonely. No-one ever comes to say hello, and they walk past me like they hate me. Levi... I want you to know..." I thought she was crying, but then I realized she was laughing. "I really want you to come back to my flower garden!"_

_I smiled- and then my body moved on its own. My hand was raised and I slapped her across the face, hard. Her face lengthened and aged, and her soft brown hair was twisted into a plait across the back. Her eyes were filled with hatred, and suddenly I recognized her. Akiko Kuranaya._

_Her voice… It was the same. Because the girl I just beat up as punishment was Flower Girl. And something I'd never thought would happen to me had happened. I had found someone to love. And she thought I was beautiful. She'd made me have a dream for the first time in so long. I'd never stop owing her-_

"Wha-?!" I groaned, jetting up and hitting my head on the bedpost. Ow, ow… What was that? Clearly I had a delusional dream. Like Flower Girl was Kuranaya. For one, Flower Girl couldn't be Kuranaya. I mean, Flower Girl was innocent and sweet. Kuranaya was a stone-cold killing machine. I mean, I would find Flower Girl eventually. I knew I would. I just had to.

The one person who ever told me I was beautiful. I mean… Not like that. I just wanted her to be alive. She… If Flower Girl wasn't alive, then I knew that it would hurt. A lot. I would get the pains I got when my mother died. Stabbing pains that never ease up, never go away.

But until I had solid proof she was dead, I refused to believe it. And if I found her… I would show her the Flower Charm that has been in a tiny bag, tucked in my pocket. It's been there for twelve years.

What? I came to my senses, sighing. I had to get back in order! How long had I been asleep? I looked outside, and it was dark with the hint of light that made me think of four or five in the morning. If I dressed quickly, I could get some food for her. Maybe she would be softer then.

Her 'brothers' were all refusing food. One was close to death. We had considered force feeding him, but what was the point? However, she was a girl. We hoped that as she was a girl, we could use some way to give her extra 'incentive' to join the scouts.

Well, I had nothing.

They were trying to use the fact she was female as a bargaining chip. Yes, one person from Gavaldon was worth ten good soldiers in themselves, and if someone from Gavaldon was taught how to master using gas as a way to propel themselves, they would be worth twenty. She was valuable, and I didn't know why she would become our asset. I mean, she clearly didn't think pain was a good enough teacher.

Sighing, I swung myself up and started to get dressed. For today, I opted in for shoes, unlike yesterday. Also, I wore armored gloves with small ridges on them. She would scream today, for sure. Sliding on trousers and slipping on the rest of my clothes, I tucked a knife into the back of my pocket, and walked out of the door. I was emotionless as always, and my thoughts were of Flower girl. I knew I would find her. I had to.

Pushing onwards, I went through countless corridors and foolish halls until I found the steps going down. The dungeon. There were some voices, and I heard a loud yell. There was the cutting _shing_ of a blade being drawn and a female voice was shouting.

We didn't have any females on watch. That meant... the only female there, could be... Sprinting down the steps, I found Kuranaya glaring in a clear challenge. Two guards were blocking the door, and she had her hands up in defense.

"Captain!" The man saluted. "She broke free, sir!"

"How?"

"I..." He looked slightly red. "She broke her handcuffs, sir!"

"She broke through?" I sighed. There was clearly more to it, and something he wouldn't tell me. She'd probably seduced him. So clichéd, it hurt.

"Well then, what are you waiting for?" I pointed to her, and she glared. She still looked injured, but barely winced. She must have been in pain.

"Sir?"

"Go capture her. You're a guard! You should defeat her with no trouble." He nodded, raised his fists and ran towards her, swinging a fist at her face. She had the time to let out a small chuckle and duck. She then, whilst crouched down, flipped over and hit the man's arm. He let out a grunt, and she cartwheeled up and smashed her elbow into his face.

She wasn't trying to kill. Turning to me, and the other guard, she said "Please, move out of my way." He flinched back, and she took the opportunity to slap him out of her way. He fell to the floor, got up after a few seconds and she started to run- but then careened into me, her hair in her face.

"Aaargh." She said quietly, her face in my cloak. Looking at her dispassionately, I noted how her cheeks were suddenly red. Sighing, I pushed her away from me and punched her square in the face. She fell back, and blood streamed from her nose. She went pale, and skidded back.

She had broken her cuffs, actually. She'd eased the chains, not the links. They were still around her hands. That must hurt... ha. Growling, she ran to me, and aimed a high kick at my waist whilst ducking down underneath my arm. She planned to slam me into the wall whilst ducking under my arm. No.

Intercepting her leg by grabbing her thigh and slamming it into the other wall, I grabbed her neck easily and pushed her into the wall. She looked pissed off, and tried to struggle. I merely tightened my fingers, and she snarled like an animal.

"Oh, shut up." She smiled, and whistled a four tone alarm. I realized what I had done. Shit! Whirling around, I met a luminous green-haired man with a knife in his hand. He slammed the hilt into my temple, and I felt slightly ill. Damn, that pissed me off. I fought him angrily.

Shoving my left index finger into his eye, he screamed and I grimaced. Pushing my finger further, I turned him against the wall and knocked him unconscious. He was easy to beat. Guess they were all like that, so she was a leader.

She was on the stairs, about to leave, but I snagged her ankle and she tripped. Cursing, she kicked free and sprinted up the stairs to meet... Oh god... Hanji.

Hanji had an odd expression on her face as she looked at how Akiko's body was black and blue, and how she had a nosebleed, and how she was panting and looked out of breath- and smiled.

"Jeez, he really put you through the ringer, huh?" I wanted to slap her. Hanji put her arm around Akiko and smiled. "Don't worry about it. When you're a scout it'll all be okay." Akiko gave her a _look_ and Hanji didn't even waver.

"So, what do you want for dinner? We have one choice." Hanji grinned.

"Well, I'll have that, then." She smiled innocently. Hanji reassured her and Akiko smiled again. Odd, I didn't think she could smile. Was she bipolar? Or she just didn't like me. That was probably true, actually. But seriously? Hanji, what the hell?

**Akiko POV**

I gazed around me. Somehow, Hanji had reassured everyone it was okay for me to eat with the scouts. Odd. I looked around at the room. We were in some sort of castle. They were really nice... Well, it was just easier for me to take advantage of them.

"So, Akiko, tell me about your training." Hanji said, smiling again. "What does Gavaldon do that makes them that much more elite?"

I put down my fork, looking at it. I could stab her in the eye with it, now, and kill her. But she wasn't looking at me like she expected me to do that. She was... smiling. Smiling wasn't really done in Gavaldon. Oh, well.

"Um, we harmonize our most human instincts to work in sync with each other." I stopped there, and she smiled encouragingly. "For example, the elite of Gavaldon- I was one- would colour their hair and wear clothes of that same colour. I was blue. We were known as those colours."

"Oh?" She said, amazed. "So how does that help?"

"We don't identify people as people, and we don't waste time checking who's who. We train ourselves to recognize that colour, and we merely have to glance at them. We don't have to check who they are. Also..." I suddenly felt a flush of shame. "It helps us to distinguish between Gavaldon and normal people, so we know who to save."

Everyone at the table suddenly clenched their fists, except Hanji. They all looked extremely angry, and I felt very ashamed. "B-But, we do help civilians. See, uh, well..." I scratched my head suddenly, and I felt hurt that these people suddenly hated me. I mean, I know they had reason to, but still... "We save all those who we can." I said lamely.

Captain Levi scowled. "So, if you saw a comrade of yours being eaten by a titan, what would you do?"

I looked slightly distastefully at the meat on my plate, forcing it down. The strong smell assuaged my nostrils, and I grimaced. "I would push them in." Levi raised an eyebrow. "I... I cut my bonds with Gavaldon due to the reason you said. They won't save the innocent, like a child."

They looked at me unbelievingly. Scowling, I stood up. They all half stood, staring at me warily. Only Hanji stayed sitting, smiling. I slowly walked to the side of the table so that they could all see. Levi didn't look, having seen it before, but they all looked curiously as I lifted my shirt up.

I raised it to the bra line, and then left it there. Turning so that they could see, I showed them the two crescent marks on my hip and stomach. "I got this when I was inbetween the jaws of a titan. I was screaming for help, and he was chewing on my stomach. I shouted for my comrade- she was barely two meters away- and she ran for her life. Ironic, considering I was the one about to die."

"Whoa!" Hanji said, grinning. "So how did you survive?"

"I already told Levi, but I stopped trying to get out, used all my remaining strength and slid into its throat. Then on the way down I cut myself out of its neck. It wasn't fun, and I decided to cut my ties."

"So, uh..." Hanji said, quietly. "What's up with the thirteen guys?" I gazed at her. Thirteen guys?

"What are you talking about?"

"The thirteen guys we found with you." I realized she was talking about the men that were sent to kill me.

"Oh. Right. They were sent to kill me so that I wouldn't help you guys." Hanji looked amazed. I really liked her, she was cute and smart and sort of funny. Sitting down again, I ate quickly.

"But we found you guys running together. It took all of the scouts to capture you guys."

"It did?" I only remembered running across a roof, about to leap to another house. Something green whirled into my vision and I blacked out.

"Yeah! Maybe your boys were harder to knock out than you. I mean, we thought you were their leader."

"No. I don't want any part of Gavaldon. They let innocents die out of spite, and I can't have that. I mean, if you acted the same, then we would be dead. So I'll help you." I still wanted to slap Levi, though. He was an asshole. I was only helping them because I liked Hanji, though.

"No way!" She smiled. "So can I perform tests on you? To test your physical endurance and agility?" I took one of her hands.

"Yes. I love tests." She looked happy, and the scouts returned to their meal. I noticed Levi looking at me, and I stared back. I wanted to do something childish like draw a finger across my throat and point to him, or to signal 'I'm watching you' but I restrained it.

Stabbing a potato, I thought of how this situation had changed. "I... Um, Captain?" I supposed I had to say this. It wasn't like I had a freaking choice. My plate was empty now. I slipped my fork into my sleeve. Pushing out my chair, I walked to him at the head of the table. Bowing to him, I raised my head.

"Am I a scout now?" He observed me emotionlessly.

"I guess so. As long as you don't try to kill me for beating you." I remembered my piercing headache, and my brow twitched slightly.

"Hm. It's an idea, sir, but I don't think it would be very profitable. Well, actually sir, I have a better idea." Taking out my fork, I stabbed a potato on his plate. "That will be all, sir." I walked away, biting into the potato. He was pissing me off.

"Enjoy it." He said, dryly. Again. Holy shit! I fucking hated this guy! He could at least be pissed off!

"I will." Finishing off the potato, I started to think of the many ways to fucking kill this man. Turning to Hanji, I picked up my empty plate.

"So, should I do the dishes? As payment for beating up some people." She contemplated this.

"Well, Levi normally does it, but I guess you could do it for today." I nodded, going to the adjoining kitchen to start the hot water. Levi looked slightly put out.

I sighed at how normal this felt. Like being in the kitchen with Annie, cooking and washing and drying. Wow, it had been years since we had done that. Starting the hot water, I allowed the water to run over my hands. It felt hot, and I lost focus.

"Here are the rest of the dishes." Levi said, bringing in a stack of plates. He stared. "That's way too much water- oh, look, it's dripping." Water began to pool at my feet. I didn't even notice. I was staring out of the window over the sink. It looked beautiful.

Trees and the sky and just general prettiness… Leaning over, I pushed myself above the sink to look out. The sky. I hadn't seen it in a while. "Kuranaya." Levi said, sounding bored. Sighing, I pulled myself down to meet Levi's face barely five inches from mine. He looked uninterested.

"When you're finished spacing out, here are the dishes. And don't get used to this, I usually do it." With that, he left- only to turn around. I had started laughing.

"Don't get used to this?" I spluttered. "You like doing the dishes?" He nodded, and looked confused.

"Why wouldn't I?"

Sighing, I threw the sponge at him. "If you like them so much, you wash and I dry." He nodded. We worked in silence for the next twenty minutes, completely synchronized. Occasionally we bumped elbows or something, and I flushed. He acted as if he didn't even notice.

"Hey, Kuranaya." He said, staring at the plate he was on.

"Yes, Levi?"

"What did you leave behind?"

"Um… Well, Suza."

"What was she?"

"Suza?" I smiled slightly. "She was my little sister. We were both orphaned at a young age, and Gavaldon took us in. She was missing an ankle, so he refused to train her or feed her."

"He?"

"Gavaldon is a group, yes. It's named after the leader."

"Oh." He looked thoughtful.

"Anyway, I had to go to school and carry her there, and until I was old enough- fourteen- to steal knives from their private supply and craft some makeshift crutches for her, I carried her everywhere."

"Whoa. Is that why you are so strong?"

"Mhm. The reason I haven't built up muscle is because I shared half- sometimes more than half- of my food with her, and stayed scarily skinny. It was only when fainting from exhaustion became a regular thing I started to hunt and steal."

"So you wouldn't tell us anything because you were… scared?"

"Sort of. Gavaldon made me a deal. He said he would feed me and my sister, if I would train. I said yes. Suza is very important to me."

"So why are you going to join us?"

"I realized how ruthless he was, killing innocents and children. Suza knew it too, and she forced me into quitting. She eventually became depressed, and threw herself into the jaws of a Titan so I wouldn't be… be dragged down anymore." Levi stared at me, and the knife that I was drying started to shake.

"I… I was so sure she would die. And then I dragged her out and leaped in myself. I don't remember the last thing she said to me, but I was glad to know you have her here." I was lying to myself. I knew she wasn't here. Levi had lied to me, and I didn't mind. That teddy was a worthless thing from a store that I thought was cute, and Suza hated teddies or cute things- and she never cried.

Something like guilt crossed Levi's face. I smiled at him. "I'm sorry to have lied to you." He said quietly. "We don't have your sister."

"I knew that from the beginning." I grinned. "Don't worry." He stared at me, and I smiled. "Now, I have to go. Can you continue for me?" He nodded. "Thanks."

Leaving the room, I walked back into the dungeon across the dining room and through the hall. Descending down the steps, I noticed how the guards smiled at me. "Hey, Kuranaya. Back in for the night?" I smiled.

"Yeah. I don't need the handcuffs, though. But if you would lock the door, it'd be appreciated." They locked me in, and I talked to them for a while before drifting off to sleep.

"_You'll come back, right?" He nodded, and as he walked away, I said goodbye in my head. He never came back. I couldn't remember his name, or his face, only that he was beautiful and kind. I sat in the meadow, alone, and as I got older, so did the tree._

_In winter, I sit waiting. It was frozen and cold, and I breathed on my hands. I sat below the small oak sapling. Smiling, I rubbed my hands on him to keep him warm. "He'll come back soon." I reassured him. I decided to name the tree Captain._

_In spring, I sit waiting. It's sweet and chilly, and I can smell life in the air. Captain has green buds now. I stared at the flowers, making a crown in the cold. I sometimes take a book. I read about history. My hair has grown to my waist, and I will have to cut it soon. I celebrated my birthday with a mince pie a friend gave me._

_In summer, I sit waiting. It's hot, and I have a wide-brimmed hat. Captain has little green leaves now, and he was slightly taller than me. I remember how mother got sick. She isn't going to get better, and my father is very sad. He says if she dies, so will he. I read some more about the history of the Titans._

_In autumn, I sit waiting. Everything's dying... Suza, just little, lost her ankle. She's not well, and she sits with me now, only three. I'm a big, big eleven year old, and she's scared. Captain's leaves turn Orange and fall on our heads. We make funny faces with them._

_In winter, I stand waiting. Gavaldon teaches me how to fight, and I get older. And thinner, and taller. Captain grows too, bigger than me. Over the next three years, he gets tall. Suza grows too, and climbs him the second she can. At one point, a branch breaks off. He is still small, after all. I slap her across the face in anger, and she starts to cry. Crying too, I ask her to forgive me, and she does._

_In spring, I stand ready. The other kids tried to take the meadow away. We went to visit Captain, one day, to find them pulling and pushing at Captain. He's close to breaking point, and Suza starts to cry. I start shouting at them, and Captain looks hurt. His leaves have been pulled off. Screaming in anger, I hit them and I keep hitting them. Eventually, they run away after I draw a knife. One I stole._

_In summer, I stand ready to fight. I start to draw patterns on Suza's crutches. Captain is big now, and I know he is scared of what is going to come. The Titans. Luckily, I'm going to protect him. Because one day, the man I named him after will come back, and I'll need to introduce them._

_In autumn, I fight. It's been twelve years. I'm twenty. Suza is fifteen. She's beautiful, with short hair and bright eyes. The Titans have attacked. They broke the walls. I kill so many, with Suza on my back. I think quickly. I steal the equipment that makes you go fast, that the captain wore, from a dead soldier. There's not much gas left, but I don't use it much. Suza's on my back and she screams a lot, but I kill twenty or so and careen into an unremarkable house. Desperately, I search for a basement. I find it, and I throw Suza in there. She cries out, and I tell her to stay there. She does._

_In winter, again, I fight. It's been one year. I taught Suza to fight, stole equipment from dead soldiers, stole gas, learned to fight like a soldier, joined up with Gavaldon and dyed my hair blue. I'm known as Flashing Death because a Titan sees a flash of blue and then dies. Not very witty._

_In spring, I see them abandon a child who's about to be eaten. Gavaldon says she's not part of us, so they leave her. I scream as she is pulled apart and eaten. Screaming, I kill the Titan and that night, I craft Suza something I had been working on. A wooden foot. It's hard, but I manage it. Stealing as many supplies as possible, I run to my old hideout. A basement I dug painstakingly beneath Captain. He's huge now, and completely hides us._

_It hollows out his trunk, goes deep into the ground, left, then deeper, and then across to the end of the meadow and down. It's a huge room. It took me three years to dig it, and then hide it from everyone except us. It could hold maybe fifty people, but I used that space to stock up on supplies over the years. Water from the river next to the meadow has been cleverly made to trickle on a small, curved shelf which we can scoop from and then go back into itself. Difficult, but possible._

_Suza lives here now. We sleep on stolen blankets. We have a difficult life, but a possible one. I mean, we live in Wall Rose, so it wasn't too dangerous for us, but we live in an area infested with Titans, and we can never lead them back to us. When a Titan crosses the meadow, we shudder in fear. _

_I run from the assassins, screaming. I was just out looking for supplies. There is a whirl of green, and I mutter 'Goodbye, Suza' before blacking out. I wake up staring at a beautiful man. Levi. He's incredible, and a complete role model. I want to be like him-_

"Gah!" I wake up, shocked. What the hell? A flashback dream? How pathetic. Jumping up, I ask the man to release me and I go for a walk. I'm still in the clothes I wore yesterday, but whatever. Pushing my muscles, I run around the castle. It's pretty.

I bump into Hanji, who is also out on a morning run. "Hey, Akiko!" She smiles. "Are you still wearing those clothes? Don't worry; I'll give you a uniform." Nodding, I continue on my way. "Akiko!" She shouts. "Breakfast will be soon! Are you a good cook?" I consider that.

"I think so!" She gives me a thumbs up, and I grin. Running on, I think of how happy I am- excluding that one fear.

_Where is Suza?_

**Okay! So that was the first chapter of Breaking the Broken. I don't really know why I called it that. Now, I hope you like it. Review, and if you have any questions PM me.**


	2. Lightning Fear

**Enjoy dis chapter, mai friends~ Also I'm typing this on my dad's computer . My PC got a virus. Can I get an aww... Get rekt!**

**Levi POV**

I sighed, watching her pirouette. How had it turned into this? Her skirts nearly slid down her legs, and a man honestly shivered, his shaven head jerking as he whispered to his friend. Why? I leaned back against the tree, and massaged my temples. She was giving me a headache.

Her creamy skin shone in the sunlight, and for no reason whatsoever the men had all turned into slavering idiots. One of them muttered something to another, and he nodded, laughing together. I narrowed my eyes. He was saying something about her.

We were all practising, and I told Akiko to show her ability. She had nodded, tucking the edge of her skirt into her underwear so it got very short. At the moment, we were still waiting on her uniform, so she wore a just past the knee skirt and a long-sleeved shirt. At the time, she had been in my room.

I slammed my fist against the tree at the memory.

_I took my shoes off, pulling at my socks. My shirt unbuttoned, and I lay back on my bed. All I thought about these days was Akiko. Her skin, her face…_

_And how __**IRRITATING **__she was! She kept calling me Isadora just to piss me off, and honestly even if she was beautiful her personality was frankly disgusting. She kept stealing from the kitchen, and when I caught her and slammed her against the wall she said 'force of habit, Isadora'._

_And do you know why she calls me Isadora? Because when I insulted her, she said- _

"_Aw, it's adorable how you hate me. Wait… It's adorable… It's adora… Isadora… ISADORABLE!" I restrained myself from punching her. But…_

_She was good at killing Titans. And she shared my dish duties with me, even if it was just to piss me off some more. Well, maybe she isn't so-_

"_Hey, Isadora!" Akiko beat her fist against the door, and she then walked in without asking permission. "I'm sleeping with you tonight." She said, without offering any explanation. I bolted up in my bed, shocked. She wanted to sleep with me? But she was young! I was her captain! Well, I'd just tell her to go away. _

_My tongue didn't want to for some reason. She was wearing a white dress, and I suddenly shut the hell up, like an idiot. She pulled a blanket in with her and wrapped it around her, sitting on the edge of my bed. There was a crack of thunder outside my window, and a flash of lightning, but she only buried herself in her blanket._

"_Why?" I said, rolling over to make room for her. "Aren't you a bit young to be sleeping with your Captain? It won't push you up the ranks, I can tell you that now." She looked confused._

"_Why would sleeping with you push me up the ranks?" Wow, Akiko, thanks. What, me fucking her wasn't good enough or something? _

_I gritted my teeth at that, and unbuttoned the last few buttons on my shirt. "Hmph. Well, come here." She again, looked put out, but came towards me, perching near my knees. Sighing, I pulled her blanket off of her. She shivered, and I smiled. The first sign of weakness. Good._

"_Um, Isadora? I like that blanket." She looked irritated, and it was my turn to be confused. I ignored it, though, and grabbed her by the shoulder. Well, it wasn't as if things weren't already awkward between us. "Hey-" I pulled her down beneath me, and her eyes were wide._

_I began to slide her dress up, trailing my hand across her thigh, and she went a rather pretty shade of pink. Her thigh was soft but firm, and the smooth skin was like silk underneath my fingers. Damn, she was beautiful. Maybe she and I would get along just fine. Or maybe not._

_**Akiko POV**_

_He was right on top of me! I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. It was Levi… He was just checking me over or something stupid like that! No way had he wanted to… No, that was unthinkable. His dark eyes loomed above me, and I noticed how even he could show emotion sometimes-_

_Nah, just kidding. He always had a poker face, but I never figured out why. His cold fingers clasped around my underwear, and he spread his hands across my waist. I cringed against the mattress, and I heard his harsh voice just inches above my face._

"_Akiko, if this is some elaborate plan to distract me you're doing pretty well." His lips brushed my collarbone, as he was unbuttoning my shirt, and I put my hands up to stop him. But his hard, smooth skin stretched tight over muscles stopped me. Scarred skin. Marred with brawls long forgotten. He must be in a lot of pain every day._

_Maybe men like him just needed relaxation sometimes, and they turned to their underlings… for it? So Levi had chosen me as his… relaxing person? Um... Wow. Naturally he wouldn't have… anyway… with me, so maybe he just wanted me to hug him. Yeah! Everyone loves hugs._

_(You know, I had completely forgotten how much I hated his rotten guts at this point. The lightning had just scared me and all. I guess I turned to him for comfort! But… we definitely got close that night)_

_I reached up and linked my arms around his shoulders, pulling him close. As I pulled him back, I expected him to hold me or hug me or something, but he pulled the strings on my skirt to open it. I froze in terror. He was unbuckling his belt now. Oh, dear god why. What have I DONE to deserve this? WHY WAS HE GETTIMG UNDRESSED?_

_But I had only asked him to sleep with me, I was just-_

_SHIT! HE THOUGHT I MEANT __**SLEEP**__ WITH HIM! I was FUCKED! He'd be so pissed off, oh man oh man… No! Akiko, you're cool! I'm cool! I'll just gently push him away, nicely and softly, and smoothly tell him what I meant. No embarrassment. No humiliation. Just… honesty! Yeah! I'll do that. Nice and softly, so that he doesn't get humiliated or ashamed._

_With my fists jerking, I shoved him onto the floor and hit his head on the way. He looked at me, looking irritated, and I noted his trousers were at this point on the floor. He was- He was- I dared to look, and sighed in relief as I realized he would be wearing underwear. Of course! What else? Thanks be to the bearded dude in the clouds!_

"_Akiko? What the hell?" He scowled. I found myself staring at his pale, beautiful body. It was practically glowing. He swiftly got up, grabbed a pillow and shoved it in my face. "If you're not buying, don't touch." He said angrily. He… he was…_

_An asshole._

_Levi POV_

_Her skirt was bunched at her waist and her eyes wide. Her pretty large breasts were being covered by her hands, and I felt something in me shiver. Pale white underwear lay on top of her lean legs._

_I felt bare and naked in front of her, probably because I was. She peeked at me, and I decided to leave the questions for morning. There was a crack of lightning, and she flinched, grabbing me around my neck. Jesus wept. Was she teasing me?_

_I realized her eyes were shiny with previous tears. What? Was she scared of the storm or something? And Akiko, crying? Seriously? I was pretty sure the 'adorable' façade she put on with Hange was just that- a façade. She was stone cold._

"_Captain." She said quietly, her voice soft. "I didn't mean you to misunderstand. I meant literally sleep with me." Suddenly, I collapsed on the other side of the bed, my head in my hands. _

"_Jesus Christ, Akiko, you might want to specify that in the future. I'm thirty-four, remember, 'Will you sleep with me?" means something else!" I snapped. Another crack of lightning lit up the room. I couldn't see her from the end of the bed, but there were tears streaming down her face when I saw her. I was absolutely horrified._

"_Akiko, why the fuck are you crying?" Harshly, I leaned over and wiped her face. She sniffed._

"_I'm not. It's… allergies, you know."_

"_Are you stupid? You're crying, and I want to know why."_

"_Well, I don't like lightning."  
_

"_How old are you, six?" Another crack of light, illuminating the room. She had sunk into the duvet, looking miserable. I sighed. I wasn't good at comforting people, especially girls. Did she really count, though? She was pretty manly, when it came to her emotions. Except the fact that she was crying._

_Eh, I wouldn't count it._

"_Akiko…" I said quietly. "I think it's stupid you're afraid of lightning. It's not like you."  
_

"_Well, you don't know me that well actually." Came her muffled voice, and I sighed._

"_I meant that you are a strong fighter. You shouldn't be afraid of anything." I sat, tortured with what I was saying. It sounded like something you would say to comfort someone. Was it? Yeah, maybe. I mean, I was complimenting her._

_Silence. She wasn't going to talk to me? She was probably thinking it over. Good. I don't say things for them to be forgotten._

_Another minute passed, and I started to become impatient for an answer. Eventually, she made a snuffling sound. Trying to muffle her tears, probably. Maybe I was too harsh. Jesus Christ, I was sentimental today. Probably just because I'd been woken up in the middle of the damned night. Oh, well, if she was back to normal I could count on her in a fight. It was worth it._

_Suddenly, there was a slight snore from beneath the blanket. I turned my head, amazed for the first time in a while. "Akiko?" I pulled her blanket back, and she lay there. She was __**asleep**__. "Akiko, you fucking moron-!" She stirred slightly, and as I shut up. As I was so close to her, I could make out the dark circles beneath her eyes._

_Well, sleeping in a dungeon can't be too good for you. Oh._

_Her mouth was slightly open, revealing the hint of white, clean teeth. Good dental hygiene, I noted. Possessing skin slightly like a petal, pale and soft, her cheeks were flushed with anger or embarrassment, one of the two. When I reached down and opened one of her eyes, I noted how the right was darker than the other. A lot darker._

_Almost inky blue, whereas the left was pretty sky blue. Both wide and spikily lashed. __**Oh**__. I had just realized I was barely an __**inch**__ from Akiko's face, having leaned down whilst I was looking at her. Her eyelashes fluttered, and then she sighed and didn't move. I breathed out._

_Well. She had invited me, and then decided to tempt me. I wasn't convinced she was as pure as all that to not know that 'sleeping with someone' means fucking them, not playing fucking Sleeping Beauty like she was now._

_Irony hit me, in the position I was in. Sleeping beauty, eh? Hmph. Well, she asked for it. I leant down, pulling her hair back and pushing her arms above her head-_

"SHIT!" Akiko's screams interrupted my thoughts. "I'm so sorry, Petra!" I snapped my head towards her, and the sight that greeted me was an odd mix of pleasant and horrible.

Petra was on the floor beneath Akiko, her honey eyes wide with shock. Akiko's long hair trailed in Petra's mouth, and Akiko was bright red. She flopped down, her head next to Petra's. Petra smiled nervously.

"It's fine, Akiko- are you hurt?" Akiko smiled at her. Oh, yeah. Petra and Hange were pretty much the only people who were nice to her. She had an incredible soft spot for them both. In fact, it had crossed my mind if Akiko was the other way inclined, and there had been no evidence to disprove it. In fact, I remembered hearing about how Gavaldon encouraged female homosexuality, because if someone got pregnant then it rendered them unable to fight.

And the males were left without any option than to turn to each other. Sounds great, no? I wasn't _gay_, but I guess whether someone was male or female never really mattered to me, as love could never be an option for me anyway. If I could choose someone to love, I'd love Petra. She's so kind, fresh and unencumbered, with her life ahead of her. But then, is that not the problem? She's got nothing that I could ever relate to.

Well, there was always Hange. But she was slightly creepy. I mean, she'd dissect me in the middle of the night or something. Ugh.

So that leaves Akiko. She's beautiful, not cute like Petra or pretty like Hange. She wasn't kind like Petra or even clever like Hange, though. The only thing she's got going for her is her wisdom and her skill on the battlefield. But she was healthy. And probably gay.

Akiko POV

I stepped up, apologizing endlessly as I assessed our injuries. I had been balancing on the pole on one foot, laughing, when the memory forced itself into my head and I fell off. Shrieking, I'd crashed into Petrushka and she had looked up. My elbow had smashed into her face. Also, I'd hit my head and was slightly woozy.

"Dear god, Petrushka, I am so freaking sorry. Holy shit! You have a nosebleed! I'll get an ice pack, come on!" I grabbed her shoulders and began to walk to the makeshift infirmary. Where our medical supplies were. Maybe I could use some too.

"Akiko..." She rubbed her nose. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"No, no! It's fine, Petrushka." She gave me an odd look.

"You do know it's just Petra, right?"

"Oh... I assumed it was short for Petrushka."

"No, it's just Petra. Anyway-" She smiled at me. "I'm fine. It's stopped already, so I'll just get in the shower and wash it off. Thanks, though, and see you at dinner."

"If you're sure..." I let go of her arm, and she smiled and walked away. She was kind. I decided to walk to Levi's room and lie down, as he wouldn't be there.

I had been thinking about Levi and how much he had pissed me off this morning. After I woke up, I felt a pressure lifting off of the bed I was on and I rolled over to see Levi, unshaven and slightly unkempt. When he saw me looking at him, he scowled and threw the duvet over me so that I didn't see him half-naked.

Understandable. That is, until he decided to be stupid.

He had gotten into the shower, so I figured I had maybe ten minutes. Yawning, I had stripped off and was clipping my bra into place, and struggling a lot with it considering I'd grown at least another cup size. Fuck. How was I supposed to get another one? Give Levi a shopping list?

"Jeez." I muttered, unable to clip it closed and cursing these tools of torture. What kind of sadistic fuck makes a bra? It's useless; you might as well tie fucking chainmail around your breasts, it's the same shitty concept.

Why was I so angry? Oh, _yeah_, I'd slept with Levi last night and had come this close to _sleeping_ with Levi last night. And he hadn't even remembered or been embarrassed about it.

I didn't hear the bathroom door open, and merely decided to loosen the straps as much as possible and just deal with it later on. Maybe I could ask Petrushka- no, wait, she was pretty much flat. Damn. Well, it'd flatter her anyway.

I removed the bra, preparing to loosen it. I struggled with the clips, and a voice came from behind me. "You're doing it wrong." Whilst I was turning pale, Levi walked in front of me; shoving the towel he had been drying his hair with into my chest and taking the bra. With two fluid motions, he loosened the straps.

"Fuck." He said, quietly. "Your bra is way too small for you." He wasn't looking at me, but if he had he would have seen a red-faced idiot, who was stuttering and mumbling. "Listen, Akiko, maybe you can borrow Hange's or something. A bra that is undersized can lead to breast cancer. You should be more careful." I looked to the floor, plotting ways to murder him.

"Um... why the hell didn't you have a shower?" I could feel his glare on me, and he put his hand on my head. _Damn, my head hurts..._

"I did." Scowling, I slipped the bra around my back.

"Tie this for me."

"No. It's too small for you." He grabbed me by the two straps of my bra and held onto my neck. "Come here before I break the damned thing."

"Tie it, dammit!" I struggled out of his arms. "Or get the fuck off of me! Die! Burn in hell!"

"Fuck you. Come here." I obliged, and he pulled me towards him. He fiddled around with something, and there was a tearing sound. Staring at my bra, I looked at how he had torn it in half. Covering my chest, I went claret and kicked him in the balls, and then cursed as I hurt my foot.

"Bastard. Balls of fucking steel."

"Better than having breast cancer." He said, and took his clothes into the bathroom. I screamed at him.

"DAMMIT, CAPTAIN!"

I redyed my hair to brown. The brown had gone to halfway through the blue, but I decided I just couldn't leave it. Blue hair was natural for me, so when I got some blue dye I'd be putting that in.

"Jeez." I said quietly, hurrying through the quiet hall. "I'm exhausted." I walked into Levi's room, scowling at how I'd had to fucking sew it back together.

Fucking Levi Ackerman. He's such a bastard.

Yawning, I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the shower, sighing as the hot water hit my skin. Luckily we- I mean, _he_\- has a bath and shower combo, so I could maybe lie down for a second. I allowed the water to wash over my head, and winced in pain as nausea hit me in waves. I'd more than hit my head. I'd properly grazed it. I put the plug in the bath, then let the shower water run the bath. I barely had time to get back from bending down to get the taps when unconsciousness hit me in a head rush.

Levi POV

"Kuranaya?" I called, hanging up my jacket. "Akiko. Dinner is ready." I could hear the bath running, and I knocked on the door. "Akiko!" I banged on the door.

"Jesus, ignore me then." I scowled. Leaning back onto the bed, I looked at the bathroom door. Akiko had very quickly become a central part of my life, and not a fond one. Her awkwardness and stubbornness, and most of all her haste to be kind, but the time she took to truly trust people, and the person she still didn't trust-herself.

I sighed. Her scent was still on my pillow, and she had made the bed this morning before leaving. Without being asked to. Taking the flower charm-bag out of my top pocket, I stared at it. She smelled the same as the flower charm did. Shit.

Suddenly, a connection formed in my mind.

Flower Girl. Akiko. That day... It all came clear.

Annie. Her sister. She must have been Flower Girl. The age fit! The description fit! Now, if we helped Akiko to find her sister _then I could find Flower Girl._ **Shit.**

But if we let Akiko anywhere near her sister, who was in Gavaldon, she'd go back to her old ways. So we'd need an escort. Anyway, Akiko was new. We could afford a trade of another Gavaldon soldier, for a reasonable price- with a sibling discount. Annie would listen to her big sister, we'd get another soldier and I'd- I'd meet-

My head span. God, this was too much to think about. I'd sleep on it. I noticed a glimmer in the corner of my eye, and my head snapped to the bathroom. Water was flooding out from the bathroom.

All thought of Flower Girl was wiped out as I sped to the door. _"Akiko! Akiko!"_ I yelled, hitting the door. There was no answer. "Answer it, Akiko, you fucking idiot!" Leaning back, I slammed my shoulder into the door. It didn't budge, and water flowed beneath my feet.

There was a bubbling sound in the bathroom. "AKIKO KURANAYA!" I roared. I threw my entire body into the door, but it would not give way. "AKIKO!" It'd be too damned late!

I went back a few meters, put one foot on the bed and took a running leap, jumping forwards and landing feet first. The door didn't even budge, and I smashed into the floor. "Fucking hell!" I muttered, knowing that I had no damned time. I looked at the window and ran to it, diving out of the window.

I bounced back onto the wall and looked across to the bathroom window. I then propelled myself out, and spun back into the window. I smashed the entire thing, and managed to dive inside. Akiko was lying underneath the hot water, her skin bright red and her hair spinning around her. She wasn't breathing.

Striding to her, I slid my hands underneath her and pulled her out. "Akiko, you're so damned clumsy." Softly, I laid her onto my back and unlocked the door, walking into the bedroom. She had started to breathe. "You've wrecked this room completely, I'll have to get a new one." I laid her down on the bed, and watched as she slept. I hadn't noticed the dark circles below her eyes.

I wondered if her dream was pleasant.

Akiko POV

"_Annie..." I smiled, as she played on the tree. "Suza's getting older." Annie nodded._

"_Yeah, she is. Can't believe my father kicked you two out, though. Will you be alright?" Her blonde hair was cut beautifully._

"_Yup. I'll be fine. _

"_Hey, did he give you that weird injection already? The one that hurts?" I shook my head_

"_**Oh. I already had mine." She smiled, holding out her hand. "Look what I can do!" She bit her finger so hard little drops of blood came from it. Automatically, it steamed up, and I grinned as her blood evaporated.**_

_**"****Hey!" Someone yelled. "What the hell?!" I looked around to see a man running towards me. "Kid, your blood just did exactly what a Titan's would! Come with me** now, we need to-" Blood spurted from his mouth as I stabbed him in the back. His face twisted and melted, and his eyes were glowing dark holes._

"_**AKIKO, WHERE ARE YOU?" **__Someone was calling my name. Who was it? __**"OH, A LITTLE GIRL. SHE KILLED PEOPLE FOR NO **__**REASON.**__** SHE'S SAD NOW, SO SHE KILLS GIANTS INSTEAD. BUT HER TRUE BLOODLUST NEVER CHANGES. DEEP INSIDE HER, SHE'S ALWAYS WANTED TO FEEL THE INCREDIBLE SENSATION OF KNIFE INTO FLESH, THE BRILLIANT BITE OF STEEL INTO BODY AND THE ECSTATIC FEELING OF COLD-BLOODED MURDER."**_

"_T-That's not true!" I cried, suddenly in my adult form. His twisted face grew into Levi's looming above me like a distorted clown._

"_Akiko, you killed people. You disgust me. Get out of my sight." I stared at him in surprise. _

"_Levi... I don't really care what you think about me killing people. I'm not in love with you yet." He jerked back, surprised, and then seemed to be contemplating something._

"_Oh. This dream is a few chapters early, then."_

"_Huh?" I said, incredibly confused, and Levi smiled embarrassedly. _

"_It's nothing, I- uh? Akiko?" I stared at his smile. God. It was weird! It looked like he was plotting world domination._

"_Jesus wept, this is a weird foreshadowing scene." I stretched out. "Now I think about it, we've probably stretched into the author's note, and that's why we're breaking the fourth wall. Great. Oh, and it'd help if the author could put up a bloody SIGN!"_

**(A/N)**

"Wh-What?" I rocketed out of the bed wildly, and then hit my head on the bedpost. There was an explosion of pain in my head, and I shouted out some choice swearing. "BALLS! FUCK! OW!" As I recovered, I turned to the post. "Well, what are _you_ looking at?" Only after I had said it did I realize just how stupid I sounded.

"Don't worry, I do that all the time." Levi said, faced away from me.

"Oh. Um. Okay. Hey, is there supposed to be a unicorn over there?"

"Akiko, I think you're delirious." Levi said, turning to look at me. "And you're going to want to be, because when I'm done with you you're going to regret the day your mother met your father and decided to fuck him."

I stared at him, now slightly worried. "What did I do...?"

"You trashed this place. Not only is it covered in water, broken glass is everywhere and you ripped my motherfucking uniform. My motherfucking _uniform._"

"Oh, shit." He grabbed me by the hair, glaring.

"Exactly the words I would use."

* * *

"The Gavaldon girl, then." The leader, Erwin, turned to look at me. "And you say she's caused nothing but trouble since she came here?"

Levi nodded, scowling at me. "Yes. She's knocked two guards unconscious, injured a scout, generally been a disruption and decided to randomly trash my room."

Erwin was a tall, imposing man. He looked strong and stoic, and he made me automatically want to trust him. Unlike the short, dark-haired little **goblin** who was behind me right now.

"Well. What do you have to say for yourself, ah...?"

"Akiko, sir. And I'd like to say since the captain beat the shit out of me on my first day I have a little right to being clumsy and pissed off."

"Yeah, sure." Said Levi sarcastically. "Because everyone in the Survey Corps bases their first move on emotions, like a teenager."

"I'm twenty-five, Grandpa, you probably wouldn't understand as you were a teenager in the _stone ages._"

"Ha." Said Levi moodily. "At least I don't think getting myself half-drowned is a good way to end the day."

"Well, do you know what? Maybe I was taking the example of my elders, as that is what you taught me to do. Remember the water-torture?"

"You didn't have to ask me to remember, as I took so much pleasure out of making you _shut the fuck up for once_ I could never have forgotten it."

"Oh, good. Another example of the oh-so-great-and-powerful-Captain stepping up to what he really think is pleasure. Drowning girls. Good one, Captain, that's what we look for!"

"We? Last time I checked you didn't even want to be here."

"I_ don't_."

"That's great! Why don't you back to letting little girls die, then?"

"Fuck you, you sadistic prick!"

"I said not to call me that, you bitch."

"Die in a fire!"

"Burn in hell."

"I already _did_ when I met you!"

"Kill yourself."

"Again, I pretty much want to do that every time I see your FACE, Captain!"

"Well save me the bother of getting out my swords and go jump off of Wall Rose! Heck, you'd be doing me a damned favour."

"Stop." The words were Erwin's, this time, and we both turned to look at him. He was restraining something.

"What is it, Erwin?" Said Levi, straight to his side. Erwin gazed at him and his clenched fists, the angry blaze of colour in my cheeks and eventually shook his head.

"The way I see it, you're crazy if you think I'm going to let her go. She's valuable."

"Sir-"

"That's it. Dismissed." Levi looked incredibly angry, but he recognized the end of the conversation. He strode out of the office. As I watched him go, I felt a twinge of something soft in the core of my heart. Could... Could this be...? That's it. It was! How could I not have known, how could I have denied my true feelings all this time? I felt it in my heart...

Deep, _deep_ hatred for Captain Levi.

"Sir, may I follow?" Erwin looked at me.

"Not yet. Listen, soldier. You're not only valuable in your fighting skills. You have other assets."

"Um, no, actually that's pretty much it."

"You are the first person- including Hange- that can piss Levi off that much without him beating them."

"That's because the bastard already did when I met him. Anyway, sir, may I go?"

He stared at me, and muttered something under his breath. What was he thinking? "Alright, soldier, you can go. But I have an order for you."

"Oh?"

Erwin POV

Her long hair cascaded down her back, and I wondered when Levi was going to tell her to cut it. "Yes. I want you to do whatever you can to stay near Levi. He needs a bodyguard, but is way too proud to admit it. I'm nominating you."

"No."

"What?"

"There is no way I'm working for such a spineless, boring, irritating prick like the Captain."

"Well, it's an order. Do it."

"But sir-"

I interrupted. "If this has to come down to you disobeying orders, then it will. And it's straight back into the dungeon, being tied to the post, and having Levi beating you. And this time, it'd be more of a torture line we'll be taking." I hated pushing her into the corner like this, especially as it looked like she trusted me.

"Sir." She said, nodding. Something cold and icy glazed over her eyes. She hated him, that was clear. As she left, I stared at the scar which just showed over the casual dress she was wearing.

"Oh, Akiko!" I called. She looked back in. "I have your uniform here. Change into it tomorrow. Also, your room has been assigned." I stared at her room assignment, six doors away from Levi. Then I scribbled it out. "You can stay in my room for the moment." I wasn't trying to matchmake her and Levi or anything like that (My room was opposite Levi's) but I did think it was adorable how they fought.

Funny, it had been a long time since I'd found anything adorable.

"Um. Sir." She nodded slightly, going slightly pink. I realized my error.

She left again, clutching her uniform. She thought I was trying to hit on her. No, no, no, she was meant to be with Levi. Shit, how do I explain this to him?

* * *

"Erwin." Said Levi as I walked down the hall to my bedroom. He grabbed my arm."Can you explain to me why a few minutes ago I caught Akiko trying to go into your room and then she said you had told her to?" I sighed. His face was completely in shadow.

"Levi, I think she should be near you in case she gets out of control. Her original room assignment is on the other side of the house." I lied casually.

"Well, then, tell her to swap with someone in the next room!"

"Like she needs to be any more hated."

"I guess that's true." He turned away from me, released my arm. "I'm sorry for doubting you." His face was completely in shadow, and I sighed.

"You love her, don't you?" He jolted.

"Sir. I don't love her, but she's... different."

"Levi. You're not a child. If you love her, tell her."

"I can't. She hates me."

"I've seen a lot of things in my time, Levi, and I can tell you what she feels isn't hate."

"Disagreed." He looked at the floor. "And I don't love her. I just care about her more than I thought I would, in a surprisingly short amount of time."

"Well, Levi, you've come a long way. I've known you for many years. But I've never seen you so emotional. It's both a flaw and an incredibly beautiful advantage. Don't lose it."

He didn't even react, only stared at the floor.

Akiko POV

I stared as Erwin spoke boldly to Levi, and Levi looked ashamed. His eyes were downcast, and I was willing to bet he was scowling. My hair was wet and sopping, my uniform damp from the rain outside.

Levi didn't move as Erwin shook his arm free and walked into his bedroom. The one I was assigned to. Levi visually shook himself, leaned against the door and put his hand against his head. He looked exhausted.

I walked down the hall, sighing. His eyes slid towards me, and he looked extremely tortured. "Your room is there." He said, pointing to the room I was supposed to have. "Erwin's orders."

I ignored him, and I looked at the fact I was exactly the same height as Levi with these boots. With all the muscle he had, he'd be difficult to carry, but oh well. I leaned forwards, put my hand around his knees and the other on his back. I then pushed, and Levi gasped as I carried him into the room, kicking the door open. "Fuck Erwin's orders." Levi stared at me.

"Drop me and you die." He said coldly, and I sighed. He linked his arms around my neck.

"Isn't this the wrong order?" I muttered.

"Hmph. You're so manly it might work." I walked in, wincing at the broken glass and the wet floor. "Oh, Akiko, tomorrow you're cleaning this up."

"Very well." I heaved him onto the bed, and he looked very young as he dropped, his hair bouncing. His cravat was loose, and I pulled at it. It came off.

"What are you doing, Akiko?" Levi's voice rang out, and I smiled at him.

"Listen, Isadora, you need to calm down." His brow furrowed. "You only sleep for three hours. That's not enough to function on."

"I beg to differ." As I looked at him, lying on the bed below me, I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. As I withdrew my hand, his hand closed around my arm and pulled me down on top of him. Then he rolled over and was above me.

"Wow, deja vu."

"Yeah. Anyway-" He lowered himself so he was lying with his head on my heart. "You need to stop getting excited." My heart beated faster, and I gulped.

"Good night." I still hated him, but oh well. As his eyes closed, and he fell asleep listening to the beat of my heart, I rubbed his head and stared at the ceiling.

"Come on, Captain." I said, wishing for the man who had saved me. "Help me with this man. He's such a freaking weirdo."

**And that's the end of that. Byeeeeee~**


	3. Well you're stupid

**Okay, so the third chapter. En-joy~ It's set a couple of weeks later.**

**Akiko POV**

Ah, what a wonderful morning. A Saturday. I could drowsily sleep in and know that the person who slept in the bed next to mine wouldn't be back in an hour. I could feel shafts of sunlight on my face, warming my skin and making it a lovely morning. The duvet was soft, the bed was soft, my hair wasn't tangled.

The Earth was spinning just fine, the Titans were a wall away and a nightmare for another time, the sun was rising perfectly and I had just an hour of relaxation and-

"Get up." I half opened my eyes, and groaned. "Get _up_." The voice insisted. I ignored it, snuggling back into the duvet. "Lazy moron." The voice sounded angry. Again, I ignored it. Better that way.

It was silent for a few moments, and I heard it doing something but I didn't care. Drifting off to sleep again, I anticipated the quiet morning ahead-

The duvet was whipped of the bed, and two rough hands grabbed me and threw me on the floor. Wincing at the bruises that were soon to show but refusing to give in, I curled up and continued to desperately try to sleep. My pajamas weren't offering much warmth, though, and I began to think I should get up.

"You've got to be joking." Harshly, the voice barked a command. "_Attention!"_ Did he think that would work? Hah. I did jerk though.

Suddenly, I felt the two hands lifting me up, and walking somewhere. I didn't care. I hadn't gotten any sleep last night, knowing that Levi would be watching me until I slept. I turned over once, and he was brazenly staring at me. Didn't matter for him, that bastard functioned on four hours of sleep! I was HUMAN!

... Or something like that.

I was dumped in the cold, hard bathtub, and I felt a knob turning. It dawned on me what he was going to do, and I raised my hands in horror.

"_Shitshitshit NO I'M AWAKE_-" Ice cold water sprayed in my face, splashing down my cheeks and soaking my clothes. It shocked me and I leaped up, screaming. I opened my eyes for the first time.

"You're finally awake. Jesus Christ, get up in future." The cold voice said, and as my vision focused I had the delight of seeing Levi first thing in the morning. His dark eyes glared at me, and I rubbed mine slightly. I then stumbled up, and his arm brushed mine as I tripped slightly. He caught me and then threw me against the door.

"I was sleeping." I snarled, going back to my bed. "Leave it for an hour, _please._" As I bent over to fall back into my bed (You may have guessed, I love sleeping) I felt his hard boot press into my side and slam me into the wall.

"Idiot." He barked. "We have Titans heading towards us. Get dressed." He gestured to the neatly folded clothes on the side table.

"You folded them?" I said, surprised. He turned to me, raising an eyebrow.

"What about it?" As I undressed, and began to slip the clothes on (Lets say I wasn't exactly shy around him anymore- he'd seen me completely naked just a fortnight ago, and half-naked the week before that) I tried to explain.

"See, for normal people that's a nice thing to do." He turned around, pulling on his green cloak. His eye flicked towards me.

"When has anything about this been normal?" With that, he folded his arms and waited. I struggled with the buckles.

"Why is your uniform so complicated, _damn_-" He didn't help me, of course. Bastard.

"Over your thighs, buckle, over again, then clip them to the band lower down." I did so, just managing it. My Uniform was still pretty crisp, even after a week's use- and it was pristine white, like Levi's. Because he washed them. And he cooked. He also cleaned. Was he secretly a woman or something?

If we were in a relationship, I think Levi would be the mother. And I'd be this buff, angry dad. And if we ever got attacked, I'd go apeshit on their asses while Levi screamed 'Help me, help me' in the background. And he'd wear a white dress. Oh! And I'd constantly be saving the day, and he'd have to rely on me always, as the princess in distress. And at the end of each day, with the enemy's bodies all around us, I'd fold my arms and say 'Serves you right, Criminal Scumbags.' And then _Levi _would say 'Oh, you're so buff!' and he'd reach up, pull my face down and he'd-

"Are you done daydreaming?" He asked, looking at me critically. I flushed slightly, then shook the thought away. I'm such an idiot. I buttoned the shirt up and slipped on the jacket, ready to go. "Don't forget your 3D gear." Levi instructed. I nodded.

_I was _gonna say 'Hug me.' Really. _Honest._

"Okay." I clipped it in, smiling at the memory. Opening the door for me, he noticed my smile and frowned, probably to balance it out.

"What's with that grin?" He asked as we walked down the hall.

"Have you ever considered wearing a dress?" I asked, thoughtfully. He didn't even flinch.

"No. And I'd sooner kill myself." I laughed, as he strode down the hall. His expression suddenly turned serious (Not that he was all sunshine and rainbows before, but you know what I mean). "Do you hear that?" He muttered.

"H-Hear what? Hey! Captain!" I yelled, as he sprinted down the hall. Rolling my eyes, I tore after him. As we ran, I began to notice a sound. Screaming...? Oh, wow, is he superhuman or something?

We raced down the stairs, only to find the opening door holding one bleeding soldier. He had lost a leg, and was desperately crawling in, shouting for help. "H-HELP!" He screamed. As Levi continued to run, gesturing for me to stay there, I leapt to the man.

"Are you okay?" I asked, checking over his wound. His leg was a bleeding stump, and he needed medical attention. Judging by the gradually increasing screams, and the severity of his wounds, he wouldn't make it.

Luckily, Gavaldon's Elite Core is trained in Medical Help as well. Just in case, because we're the elite. I removed the buckled around his waist with shaking hands, tying it around what was left of his leg. He was white as a sheet now.

Although I tended to skip out on lessons, so I only knew the basics. I couldn't do jack shit for him.

"What happened?" I was curious. Usually, Titans don't take a leg, they kind of go for the whole plate if you get what I mean.

"Ab-Abnormals..." He whispered, his breath rattling through his teeth. "S-Six..." I jerked back. Six?!

"No way..." I said, horrified. Patting on the arm, I began to rise. "I'm sorry, I have to go. What's your name?" He was petrified to stay on his own, I think.

"K-Kaz.." He muttered. I squeezed his cheek desperately. I didn't know jack shit about healing!

"Keep pressure on it, Kaz. Hide under the stairs, okay?" As he nodded, pulling himself down the stairs with incredible strength, I ran after Levi.

Six abnormals- and Levi didn't know! I had to warn him, or he'd be caught by surprise and he'd... I shook the thought away. Only twenty minutes ago I had been sleeping peacefully. Probably twenty minutes ago that man got his leg bit off.

"Poor sod." I muttered. As I turned the corner on one hall, I caught a flash of ginger hair and I collided into Petra. We both grabbed each other, our fear mirrored.

"Where's the Captain?" She said, sounding terrified. I told her what I knew, and then she began to run again. I kind of just stood there as Eld, Gunther and Oluo ran after her, panting.

"He might be in the east." I offered comfortingly. However, I knew he was in the West. Stupid thing was, I knew he'd be in the heat of the action and I really can't afford them dying right now. It'd look bad on my resume, right?

"Wait, Petra!" They yelled. However, Oluo stopped before running after her, holding my sleeve.

"Listen, Gavaldon. I don't know what you're here for. And I know you've somehow made Captain Levi trust you but that's not really my main issue right now. My point is that you need to understand that we do not care if we slit your throat or save your life, got it? Try not to show off, as no-one will be impressed." He said coolly.

"Wow..." I muttered. "You really do think you're Levi." He scowled at me, and I tapped his nose. "Just remember, Oluo, you've got to understand I could beat you with my eyes closed- also, now isn't the time to let your personal shit get in the way. Got it? Go follow Petra like you always do, I'm doing my own thing."

They continued to run after her. I was torn, but I went the way Levi went. As worried as Petra was, she was following her orders. I had none left.

_That was who I was in Gavaldon. The soldier with no orders, the one who sometimes just went crazy and killed Titans for no reason other than for fun. The one who looked for them, who took pleasure in baiting them. The Rogue, the Flash, the Shadow... I have many nicknames. Not many are pleasant._

Whoa! No flashbacks, not now! I cleared my mind. Levi, Levi, Levi... Shit!

Almost in slow motion, the wall seemed to crack next to me. Slowly skin began to break through, and I leaped to the side. I knew what it was straight away, naturally, and I shoulder rolled as a titan's fist exploded into the wall. Eleven-meter, from the looks of its fist. Do I run? Hide?

This was my first encounted with a Titan in months, christ! "What do I do, Levi?"

I froze. Why did I ask Levi for help? Subconsciously? Without even thinking about it, I wanted his guidance... Wait, why am I thinking about this! The titan's coming closer and I have no idea what to _do_... _Shit!_

**"Not the time." **Levi's hard voice came from behind me. I whirled around. The titan's fist, now I looked harder, was flat. It began to steam up, and the blood on Levi's cheek evaporated.

"Y-Yagh!" I yelped. He ignored that.

"Go out through that hole." He said, pointing left. "Take your horse and go alongside the carriages filled with the injured. The elite ones will take care of this." He muttered.

"But I am the elite-"

_"GO."_ He commanded, his expression ice cold.

"But I've left something in there!" I yelled. "Something important!" _The wing necklace. It's on the bed._

"What's worth more? That or your life, you idiot?"

"That! I can tell you now that is worth more! I have to get it, damn it!" He turned, and with exactly the same movement as this morning, he kicked me out of the hole, his boot digging into my side again.

"Stop bothering me- I don't need your shit today." He growled. "Do what you said to me you could! For fuck's sake- this isn't a time for emotion! Just get **lost."**

I responded quickly, twisting in the air and then leaping onto a pole and swinging down. As he stared at me, his eyes dark, I turned and began to walk. Just before I did, though, I waved at him. 

"Come back alive!" I called, laughing. He gave me a disgusted look, and walked back into the building. It was childish, yes. But quite frankly, it was also worth it.

**Levi POV**

"I'll try." I said wryly. I was more concerned for her- but that's a damn shame. I didn't have time to think about her, and if she died to stupidity then that's what'd happen. Ugh...

Clearing my head, I sprinted through the halls. My eyes closed as I began to hear the screams of the dying. The doors I went through slowly started to have more and more bloodstains on them.

"Help... me..." A man whispered. His hair was dark, and he was the man Akiko saw to earlier! He was collapsed under the stairs. Why the fuck didn't she tend to him medically, instead of running after me like a goddamn teenager!

"I'm sorry." Mechanically, I apologized and carried on running- then I came across my four most trusted soldiers. What the hell were they doing here?

"Captain!" They called, already weary with running. "We were looking for you, and Akiko suggested East! But we looked there, and it was just empty, and now you're in the opposite of where she said you'd be..." I don't think they said that, but that's what I got from it. Akiko lied to them about where I'd be.

"Do a sweep of the castle." I sighed. "I'm late, so I didn't do anything. Lives were wasted." If Akiko hadn't fucked around this morning, I would've been here earlier. I might have saved some people. This was a _waste_.

"Yes, sir." They saluted, and walked away. Gunther, however, stayed with me. I trusted him implicitly, and without speaking he seemed to understand that I'd require his assistance. I might want him to hold her down whilst I beat the shit out of her.

Why? I thought we could trust her. Clearly, I was mistaken and I'd imprison her again once all of this is over. She was a spy, perhaps. I knew she had given in too easily. For fuck's sake.

My eyes were dark as I reached the end of the destroyed hallway. Lying there, in a puddle of blood, was a blonde-haired girl of about thirteen or fourteen. She was wearing a uniform, and her fresh face was contorted in pain. "Help... me..." She whispered. Behind me stood Gunther, and he walked forwards to brush her hair back from her face.

"Her name is Midoriko, sir. She's a trainee- and from my town. I don't know how she got here." I surveyed him, and underneath the calm shell I knew that he was absolutely terrified. He seemed to like her.

"You stay here." I sighed, stretching my arm behind my head. "The shit's hit the fan already anyway. Tend to her and report to my later. I'll kill the rest of these bastards." He nodded, and bit his lip.

"What about... Akiko, sir?" I stayed silent, and merely gazed at him.

"I'll dismiss her if possible, but it could come down to killing her. Erwin won't be happy. Jesus wept, this is just disgusting."

"I see. Please try to just dismiss her, sir. We've grown somewhat attached to her." I didn't nod. How could I promise that? Admittedly, she was somewhat attractive and very kind, but she'd only ever shown respect to Erwin. And me. Sort of.

With a sheet of steel around my heart, I began to walk down the corridor. I came to a destroyed hallway and then stopped suddenly. It sounded like screaming... Drawing my blades, I stepped quicker. I was tired, and if I'm honest... I'd been staring at Akiko's face all night. Her beauty surprised me, even if she sounded like an ape when she slept. Musical, that's for sure.

What was that...? Akiko's more trouble than she's worth, I decided. I'm going to find her and dismiss her. It's pathetic how she's acting like a civilian.

"Titan!" Someone yelled. I attached the hooks to the wall opposite and ran up. When I hit the top, backflipping gracefully, I looked at titan headed away from us.

It was then I saw it. Ten meter, pathetic, but fast enough to have killed the newer recruits. It was running towards my quarters, and had its weak, watery eyes fixed on something there. I affixed my hooks to it's neck, and then slashed straight into its neck. Why would it head there? As the titan fell, I gazed at the window.

A flash of brown hair before the window made my heart skip a beat. As I sank down on its steaming nape, I caught sight of a titan clinging onto the building, one eye pressed up against the other window. Looking at Akiko.

_"Come back alive!"_ She said. Was she planning to do the same herself? _Really?_ What could be so goddamn important that she'd risk her life, my life, other's lives just to go back to get some trinket? I said I would get it!

That's it, I'm beating her. Beating the living shit out of her. If I can, I'm taking her back to the damn jail. What an idiot.

"Akiko." I said, softly. I must have been fifty meters away, but she had very good hearing and we had an almost telepathic bond. Her head snapped up, and her hand lifted to show a flower charm. What?

She turned to the titan, her eyes widening. The titan pulled its fist back, and she screamed. Although she flipped back, the titan's fist caught her midair as it ploughed through the rooms and she hit the wall. She was knocked out.

"Ugh." I scowled, swinging around the titan. "You've really screwed up, getting my room dirty." The blood from the titan's nape splashed onto my bed and Akiko's, too. Akiko had fallen onto the wardrobe, and glass lay all over her face. There was a bad cut across her chin, and a haze lay over her in my anger.

"Come here." I sighed, grabbing her by the hair and swinging her over my shoulder. Her arms lay over my shoulders, and I realized I couldn't carry her if I was to use my Manouver gear. She was paying for this...

Grimly, I used her gear-hooks to tie her around me. She was surprisingly light, for such a strong build. Only a few inches taller than me, and she had awful posture- if she slouched, like usual, she was the same height as me. I tied her legs around my waist, and her chin lay on my shoulder. Her mouth brushed against my ear, and I shivered slightly but wouldn't let it show.

In the shattered glass, before I exited out of the hole, I caught sight of her slight smile. Her flower charm lay on the floor, splattered in the blood of her face wounds. I considered leaving it, to be cruel. But Akiko wasn't an idiot, she knew the risk was taking. It's as important as her life, so if I left it, she'd have a reason to be angry with me and I couldn't be justified when I beat her.

_I wanted to kiss her._ The thought rang through my mind and I flinched, shocked. My hook smashed into the wall, and I swung up to the roof. I then sheathed my blades and ran, holding Akiko's legs. She was slipping.

Why would I want to kiss Akiko, of all people? Petra, perhaps. A loyal soldier, trustworthy girl. Quite pretty and shorter than me, with an agreeable attitude and a kind heart. She even understood my cleanliness.

Akiko... ugh. She was untidy, slept late, and had long unpractical hair. Although sort of pretty in a very masculine way, she had an irritatingly sporty physique with large breasts and a tall stature. God. She was completely uncompatible. Maybe I should ask Petra to be my wife- I am thirty-six, but I'm married to my work. Petra as a soldier would be a perfect choice.

"Ahumanum..." She sighed, tightening her arms around my neck. Pausing, I turned around and untied her so she crashed onto the floor.

"Are you _asleep_?" In shock, I stepped back. Of all the idiots...

She rubbed her eyes, and nodded. "I was so tired, I didn't think straight when I went to the room. You do know I hadn't slept in four days, right? I wanted..." I now looked again, and there were dark bags under her eyes.

"You wanted what?" She bit her lip. A blush of shame was crawling up her neck, and she moved herself so that she was kneeling to me.

"I wanted to impress you. See... I'm not used to wanting to impress people... I stayed up every night, practicing. You didn't see, because I've been doing it in the few hours you slept. See, Levi, your opinion of me matters to me. I don't really know why, but I just-" She looked close to tears, and I'm not the sort of man who gets pleasure from making women cry. Sighing, I pulled her up and punched her in the face.

"You've completely failed." I scowled. "Instead of impressing me with your skill, you merely impressed me with your resolve. And stop talking. I doubt it, but I think you've been so tired you haven't been thinking straight. That was an idiotic thing to do, and you'll get punished." Her eyes were starting to glow with tears, and then she buried her face in my shirt. I felt water on my skin.

"You're forgiving me?" She sniffed.

"No. Stop making my shirt wet." I pushed her off of my shirt, and she just karate-chopped my arms down and grabbed me, embracing me fiercely. "I'm not going to forgive you, but I can understand. Lets go." She didn't move, and as I looked down, I saw tears dropping to the floor. She'd moved so she didn't get my shirt soaked in her tears.

"I'm... so happy..." She said softly. "Why is that?" She swayed suddenly, and I caught her. Fainting for real?

"You're not fully conscious." I sighed, and she grabbed my nape. Her lips opened, and she pulled me down. I barely moved or responded, and her eyes were dark as she moved her lips on mine. Her breath tickled my cheek, and I allowed myself to kiss her for a second before I pushed her away. "And I'm not going to take advantage of you, like some bastard would."

She had fallen asleep, and I glared at her softly snoring body. She had taken advantage of me. "Akiko!" I shouted sharply. "Attention!" Snapping awake, she tried to force herself upwards, merely tripping over and landing on her face.

"Owwie..." She grumbled, blood dripping from her nose. "Levi, carry me." She grabbed my hand, holding it close to her heart. I hissed in irritation, and then she said something softly which made my heart skip a beat again.

"_You're in control of my heart. Love is simply a word for the chains you bound me with. Levi is the name for Light of my Heart. But even saying so... I love you."_ It sounded like a quote from a book.

I gazed at her, and she started to cry. As I went to pull my arm back, she pulled my hand to her face and wiped away the tears that clung to her cheeks. "L-Levi..." She sobbed. Oh, yeah, she was a sleeptalker, but she'd never say anything this pronounced. Like a love confession.

Wait, what the _fuck?_

Akiko POV

"Wake up." A voice intruded into my thoughts, and I woke up to see Levi glaring at me. Chains bound me hands behind my body.

"Jesus, what did I do now?" I snapped. "I was just on a roof getting punched, wasn't I?" All I remembered was the sweet sting of his hand on my face. He had a curious look on his face. He was clinging on to the bars of the cell.

"Do you read books?" He asked, his brow furrowing.

"I suppose so." I said thoughtfully, refusing to be daunted by the random nature of the question.

"What kinds?" At this, I blushed, but I told the truth.

"Cheesy romance."

"Have you ever read this_-"_You're in control of my heart. Love is simply a word for the chains you bound me with. -Blank- is the name for Light of my Heart. But even saying so... I love you." He gazed at me for not the first time, and I was shocked.

"Y-Yes. It's a quote from my favourite book. In fact, the main character in it was called Levi, heheh." He had a sudden intense scowl.

"You're kidding. You're _joking, _that was some scummy book? Fuck this." He strode out, and Hanji appeared, waving some keys.

"Dunno what's wrong with him." She said, throwing him a look. "But locking you didn't go so great last time, so lets get you out!" As she unlocked the door and then the chains, she told me about dinner and sweetly gave me a plaster for my cheek.

"Thanks, Hanji." I said warmly. "Where are we?"

"We moved." She sighed. "All my research got left behind..." A dark shadow crossed her face.

"Oh, wow, I'm sorry for you." I said appreciatively. All her research meant she was getting closer to _my_ secret, so I was fine with it.

"Actually, there's supposed to be this weird thing going on with one of the recruits. Guy called Eren Jaeger. Now, usually I wouldn't tell you this..." She looked around surreptitiously. "He can turn into a titan."

"Jesus _fucking_ wept!" I yelped, and she nodded. "Do you reckon it's something in his blood, or is it transfused, or...?" I asked her random questions, and as she told me her theories, I realized the possibility. Apart from me and sis and Annie...

There are others? Other Titan shifters?

**Story changing sentence, you know... Just saying... Dun dun dun...**


	4. The proverbial plot thickens

**Okay, guys, to be honest I haven't exactly been diligent in keeping the time spots normal, but I'm getting my shit straight in this chapter. This is the fall of Shiganshina- AKA, the fall of Wall Rose. I think it's Wall Rose. You know, the first one. Last chapter was actually just a breach in da system, so... I didn't explain much because it was mostly Akiko POV, and she didn't know anything about it, so it made sense. Sorry~**

**Also I realized I'm spelling Wall Sina wrong, but I can't be bothered to go back and change it. So deal wif it. Bruv. Blud. Innit. Such cockney gangster. Much english wow. Sorry. And again, looking back, I only gave Levi short snappy parts, because to be honest chu guys have already seen what has happened. And I can write for Akiko better. GG. Anyway, enjoy.**

**Levi POV**

"Come on, Akiko, just stay straight." I snapped, pulling at her reins. "Even new recruits can do this! Stop giving up, you piece of crap." Sweat poured down her face, and she looked close to crying. She was panting with the effort that shouldn't have been too hard.

"It's... hard..." She panted. Her cheeks were red, and she was straining with the efforts of balancing herself. Sweat was literally pouring off of her, and she looked incredibly unnattractive. Her nose was running, too.

That's the odd thing. Gavaldon kids (And I would call them 'kids' he only started training people from eight to fifteen) stole our swords and equipment every so often. We often saw them soaring around on our stolen gear. So how come Akiko had no idea how to use it? I can't imagine she walked around. It was just odd. As fast as she is, she's not _that_ fast.

I only have two conclusions: Either she had other ways of getting around, or she had gotten concussed when we took her. It made no sense, but I had to draw some answer.

She tried to hold herself up, but then slid her hands too quickly up the leather and what with the cry she gave as her hand went red, it looked like she'd and then let go quickly to grab at the ropes. It spilt, naturally, and she slipped to the mat with her ass in the air and her face in the floor. "Ow." She grumbled, flushing red. "Pull me up."

I put my boot on her head, intending to scare her into it. Slightly pressuring her, I goaded her with words.

"Akiko, come on. How are you going to bring pride to being a Gavaldon fighter if you're not a strong? I'm starting to think that you're weak." She looked furious with herself, and I sighed. She got far too angry far too quickly. Her _hamartia_, I suppose.

"What's this?" I said, as she got up, glaring, and dusted herself off.

"It's the gear." She scowled. "I broke the securing clips. And by the way-" As she raised her hand, not to slap me, but to pull around my neck and drag my face close to hers. "You're an awful teacher." Sighing, I pinched her cheek and shoved her back into the equipment.

"You're a shitty student. Now go again." I sat down, waiting for her to begin again, when Hanji burst in.

"_Levi!" _She shouted, completely out of breath. "A-Abnormal titan! _Huge_! Levi, it's breaking the wall, the titan's are coming, there's this armoured one too and we need your help, something's gonna happen to the walls, people are getting _eaten, come on_!" I paused, and Akiko

_**"What?"**_ I exploded. "But that's not possible. That's just **not possible."** A shred of panic exploded inside me, and I felt my eyebrows twitching in panic.

Akiko sat on the floor, whilst I strode to Hanji. Hanji looked serious, for once, not a single smirk. Was she fucking serious?

"Please!" I ignored her, and turned to Akiko, and raised my eyebrows.

Akiko gazed at me, and began to lift herself out of the harness to come with me. I shook my head succintly, and she understood instantly, tying it to herself again- but she looked slightly disconcerted.

"I'll see you later." She said nonchalantly, but I caught a wisp of fear behind her eyes. Her hands were shaking, and I could guess why.

"Akiko." I walked over to her, and put my hand on my shoulder. "Have faith in my abilities." She was shaking uncontrollably now. "You don't need to worry about me dying, I can deal with myself. Just watch your ass here. And stop being so damn negative. You can do it if you actually give a shit-"

**"You're dead." **She whispered, and as I pushed her face up, her eyes widened and her mouth open with horror. My thumb traced down her cheek, and I wiped away a bead of sweat- her skin was flushed with exhaustion.

"Don't be ridiculous. Akiko, stay here and practice. You'll get it sometime." She snapped up, and grabbed my hand. Her eyes pierced into mine, the colour of summer skies. I jerked back slightly. She looked oddly pleading.

"Take **nothing **for granted. Understood? Don't you assume anything, that's not a normal titan, think of it as having human intelligence! Assume that it's higher in level than you! Just- Captain..." I stepped back. She was probably just tired, but I'd listen to her later. "Just... don't die." She shook her head slightly, and then forced a smile.

"I won't die." I said, before following a confused Hanji. "Calm down." As I walked away, out of the range of my hearing, blue eyes filled with tears and Akiko slumped down, sighing.

**Akiko POV**

_They're all going to die._ I realized, and then thought about how this had been the last time I would ever see Levi. I wanted to kiss him again, oddly enough. Why do I want to hold him again? Before he dies, how do I tell him that I want to be with him?

"Why him?" I groaned, unclipping the harness. I'd been hanging there as blood rushed to my head. "Of all people to face my lovely Annie..." I heard the footsteps, and as I unclipped the final belt and tumbled to the floor, someone walked into the room.

I rubbed my sore back, and without looking, said "Levi's left with Hanji-if you run, you can catch him." Getting up, and turning my back to the person, I waited for them to leave and go die as well. I mean, that was why I was here. To kill them. I wasn't here to be all buddy buddy, I was here to find Annie-

I felt the presence of someone behind me, and a shadow fell over my shoulder. "Hey-" The person got out before I jerked in surprise and slammed my elbow into their stomach and spun around, knocking out their legs underneath them and dropping them to the floor with my hand on their throat.

A reflex. Oops.

Of course, I didn't expect to see Annie underneath me, her eyes wide and her mouth open in a smile. For a split second we stared at each other, drinking in the features we hadn't seen in a few months. She looked taller, and her hair was cut shorter- plus she looked pretty good in the uniform.

"Sis!" I shrieked loudly, letting go of her neck, pulling her up and enveloping her in a soft hug. She squeezed back, and I felt her tears trickling onto my shoulder.

"Akko, I missed you too." She pulled back, her crystalline eyes wet but still stone-faced. "I heard from the other soldiers that they beat you. Are you alright? I worried, but I wasn't allowed to your hideout. And then I heard that you were caught in the blast of a wave of titans when the wall went down... Is that a new scar?" She asked, poking at my forehead. I had a slight graze near my scalp from when the Titan punched me and I slammed into the mirror and smashed it.

"Oh, it's nothing, Sis, but what about you? How's everyone doing back at Base? Is Suza eating enough? Have the other Sisters been looking after her? My boys got caught with me, but they escaped, so I assume that they got back."

"What, you mean Danni and Fox?" Green and yellow. "Yes, they got back a few months ago, barely a week after you got captured. Father was..." She sighed, covering her eyes. "He was very worried. Gavaldon was terrified."

"You mean father cared?" I asked, genuinely shocked.

"Well, he had long periods of silence and wouldn't really eat. But that's okay, because we were running low on supplies anyway. No-one could make a meal strategy like you, but Suza's stepping up very well on scythe work."

_"Scythe_ work? But the only person who's wielded a scythe to kill titans was mother! And mother's not exactly around to teach her, she's kinda busy pushing daisies right now!" Annie smirked slightly, and I pouted. "Why couldn't she just pick double swords like me and you?"

"I guess she found her calling- after all, Lily managed to be incredible with a chain scythe and no-one saw that one coming."

"Yes, but we can steal double swords from the army- we have to craft scythes and axes ourselves. How's the forgers doing? They must be complaining by now."

"Like old women." She poked me. "And aren't you getting fat?" I released her, but we still stood at arms length.

"Am not!" I sucked my stomach in, scowling. "It's just my breasts." Annie looked at me dryly, and I quipped, "You're just jealous because you don't _have _any." With a growl, she tackled me to the floor and sat on top of me, tickling me till I cried.

"I give up! _I give up!_" She looked slightly triumphant. "Anyway, what's the plan-? HEY!" She gave me a look of confusion. Awarness trickled down my spine, and a cold wash of dread slipped over my features.

"If there's an abnormal titan out there, and it's not you..." She looked at me, impassive as always.

"Well, Reiner and Berdholt haven't been given orders by Gavaldon... and other than you, me and possibly Suza, we don't have any other Titan Shifters to my knowledge." I gazed at her, and my mantra for Gavaldon slipped into my mind once more.

_My name is Akiko Kuranaya-Leonhart. My lawful father is Captain Leonhart of the Gavaldon Battalion. My mother is Adelaide Kuranaya, disgraced due to an affair. There is an equal possibility my father is Gavaldon, Colonel of the Gavaldon Batallion. Captain Leonhart and Captain Gavaldon are life-long friends. _

_My sister is Suza Leonhart. My half-sister is Annie Leonhart. When my mother's affair was pronounced, she was banished. The Jury of Gavaldon banished me and Suza onto the streets, however Gavaldon himself took us back once he had found us. I train to protect Suza. And I am a Titan Shifter._

Annie waved her hand in front of me, and I snapped back to real life. _"Oh! _Sorry?"

"I said, do you want to go back?" I was oblivious to what she meant.

"T-To where?"

"Gavaldon, you moron. From what I can see, all they've done is hurt you here. Lets get you out." She tugged my hand slightly, and I clenched my teeth. I... How do I say...

_"Hey, Akiko." Levi sniffed, as we packed our stuff into the new quarters. He was ironing a shirt to go into the shirt drawer, when he stopped and faced me. "You look sick." As he gestured to me, I caught sight of myself in the mirror. I was mellow and pale-faced, with dry, cracked lips and feverishly bright eyes._

_"You think so?" I muttered tiredly. "Maybe it's fever." A bead of sweat broke across my forehead, and I felt my arms contracting with exhaustion. God, my head hurt. Like a moron, I'd been giving out my army-regulation food to the orphans around. There was even this one guy who wouldn't accept it, so I ended up giving it to his sister to stuff down his throat- I told her to say that she'd saved it for him. She accepted gratefully, lovely girl-she was quite pretty. Japanese, too._

_"I don't think so." He looked at me critically, before striding to me and feeling my forehead with the back of his hand, and putting his other on _his _forehead. "I think you're seriously sick. Overexhaustion, probably." Yeah, that and that I ate probably one bread roll a day. "And that you only eat one meal a day."_

_"What are you talking about?" I lied easily, and his eyes narrowed. There's no getting past him, is there?_

_"I'm not an idiot. You were going and giving the little pipsqueaks your food. Don't get me wrong, Akiko, it's nice and all, but you're a fighter and you need your strength. You're nearly dead on your feet-"_

_"Shut up." I said quietly, leaning into his neck. Since I was taller than him, I didn't get to lean into his chest romantically or swoon in his arms. Well, I could, and he'd be strong enough, but we'd look ridiculous. A midget holding a fairly tall girl. It actually made me snigger thinking about it._

_He didn't snap at me for telling him to shut up, only stood there and sighed. "Go to bed, Kuranaya. After all, you've got..." His voice sounded like it was moving away, and then I opened my eyes and saw the floor rushing up to meet me-_

_"Not today." Levi said, and I stopped with my nose an inch from the floor, and then whirled around and met his face staring upwards. "Go to sleep." He sighed, taking a few short steps to my bed and dropping me onto it._

_I was asleep before he tucked the covers around me._

_I only woke a few times to see Levi lifting me up wordlessly, and somehow coaxing me with sort of kind words ("I'll choke you on this fucking stuff if I have to") to drink sips of water. A few other times I didn't open my eyes, because the light hurt, but I felt a hand smoothing my hair back and a rough, but not unpleasant voice singing a lullaby._

_"Go to sleep, go to sleep,_

_Go to sleep my dear darling,_

_Close those eyes, those green eyes_

_Close your beautiful green eyes._

_Go to rest, go to rest, _

_Go to rest oh, my loved one,_

_Visit the, land of dreams,_

_And I'll see you there soon."_

Silently, I hummed the song and Annie stared at me again. "Akko..." She stared at me with a horrified air. "Do you... _want_ to stay?" I gulped.

"Well... I made friends and- well I- I have a Captain now- and-" Now, she stared with open disbelief. Oh, she doesn't believe me about Captain and my tree.

"_Not_ this 'Captain' crap again. I've already told you, he doesn't exist. There's no record of a Captain at that time. And that tree has never borne fruit, we don't even know if it IS an Apple tree."

"Well, a Captain in training then!" I shouted defiantly. "And don't say he doesn't exist, I still have his flower charm! And it did once, that tree!" She sighed.

"You made that yourself, Akko. And no it didn't."

"No, I didn't! This was made by Captain! _FUCK YOU!_"

"Any 'Captain' that was around twenty when you were twelve could be thirty or fourty by 're twenty-five, Akko, why don't you do the maths? He'd be old, married, or _dead_." She spat the last word harshly. "And I don't think Gavaldon's going to be happy."

I stared at my sister. "You complete and utter bitch. Just because you're an emotionless fucking shell doesn't mean that you have to try to make everybody else's life hell!" She growled at that, and we both took stances.

"Well, _big sis_," She lowered her head. "Lets see you put one over your little miserable sis." With that, she ran at me, and I laughed before feinting out of her way, dodging, ducking and jumping as she attacked relentlessly. Her eyes were dark with fury.

"Annie." I sighed. "I'm your big sis. You can't even expect to win!" She got angrier, and by chance one of her fists glanced over my nose and I flinched. Time to offend as well as defend. I always was better at attack anyway.

Sliding underneath her, I stood up behind her and slammed into her back with mine, merely rolling over her as she ducked cleverly. As I hit the floor, in front of her once more, she swept a leg out and knocked me over, before grabbing my throat with one hand- as I did to her when she entered- and slamming me to the floor.

"I yield!" I yelped, as she sniffed and let go, turning her back on me angrily. She really did think she was the damn best! God! Smirking slightly, I leaped up and kicked her into a wall, relishing the look as she hit the dust, with a short groan- and then, for a split second, I realized that was what I looked like when Levi kicked _me_ into a wall.

She got up slowly, glaring at me, and I knew what she was thinking. Not fair, but life wasn't fair. It was her fault for turning her back on the opposition. Sighing, she raised her hands in surrender, and I grinned happily and ran to hug her.

"Love you!" She patted my head as I squeezed her. Before I'd finished completely, she pulled me back, and pulled out a handkerchief. I wasn't sure what she was doing for a second, but then she smiled reassuringly at me and pressed it to my mouth and nose.

"Huh? Sis?" I got out before the world clouded around me and I felt her hands grip me and lift me up.

"Sorry, Akko, but I'm taking you to Gavaldon. Definitely."

_C-Chloroform?_

**Gavaldon POV**

She stood in front of me, holding her sister's body. Akiko's long hair swept down to Annie's legs, but that might have been because her head was tilted back, revealing her creamy, white neck. I stared at her. My little Akiko.

"So..." I mused, staring down at Annie. I'm one hundred and eighty centimetres to her one hundred and fifty. Akiko's one hundred sixty five-ish. Through the differences in height, though, they definitely look like sisters. Same eyes, same nose- although Akiko's was a little less protruding. Same creamy skin and perfect physique. Hair different, though- waves of brown hair swept down Akiko's back, whilst Annie reined hers in in a tight blonde ponytail.

Akiko always _was_ my favourite. Unlike Annie, she didn't blend in and go with the flow. She stood against the flow of the water no matter who buckled around her and got swept away. Her eyes had the deep ring of steel in them that Annie's lacked...

But Annie was _always _better in the field. Not once had Akiko beat her in a fair fight. Annie, shall we say, was just better. Whether she used it or not. And they both had awful romantic taste.

"Why's she unconscious?" I realized, directing the question at Annie. She didn't react, but I caught a wisp of guilt before she locked her emotions away behind her eyes.

"I knocked her out." She explained, coming to lay her on my lap as she knew I would want. "She refused to come back."

"Oh, really." I patted Akiko's hair, and thumbed a newer scar on her forehead. "I expect she did. After all, there she gets paid and given food to give out. I don't think she'll be eating, and she'll have persuaded herself that she's 'spying' for us when in reality I think she loves it there. Sweet, if you like that kind of thing."

"Sir..." Annie responded, looking somewhat angry. "We can't let her stay there. She's too valuable." I considered this. After all, Akiko was still an incredible soldier, as Blue in my private team. Annie spent most of her time being a spy in that farce they called an army.

"But she can't change." I mused again. "That was her fatal flaw. Her failure." She bowed her head respectfully, saying nothing.

"And Akiko's too human." I sighed. "Think about it! Akiko would never leave someone behind, would give up her food for kids, and never let me hit Suza. Remember? With Suza, Akiko took her every beating, behind Suza's back. Twice as hard. You just watched Akiko get hit." I grinned, as Annie's fist clenched. I'd purposefully been elaborating on Akiko, to pull on her heartstrings.

"It wasn't my-"

"_And_ you let her get thrown out of your father's home, as a child. Hm." I watched as Akiko began to stir, and how Annie's eyes followed her every sniff and yawn. Always checking up on her. Akiko's grey eyelashes fluttered, whilst Annie's hid her eyes.

"Awugh..." Akiko groaned, looking up. "Captain?" My black hair hid my eyes, and I knew that I'd jerked slightly in shock. Her fingers held my shoulders, and she gazed up at me through bleary eyes. "Wait, you're not C-C... Capt..." The realization of who I was slowly began to sear through her mind, I could practically hear the cogs whirring, and her eyes widened.

"S-Sir?" She asked, sounding slightly disbelieving. "What are you doing here? What am I doing here? H-Hey! Let me go!" My iron grip closed around her arms, and I hissed into her ear:

"Honeybunch, if you want to leave this room alive, I suggest you don't struggle." She glared at me furiously, almost spitting at me.

"Now, now, Akko-darling, you wouldn't be thinking of struggling against your dearest Gavaldon, would you? After all, you love me so... At least that was what you were whispering a few months ago." She turned scarlet, probably remembering how I'd forced her to comply. Her skin was so soft under my hands that time...

"But to more important matters." I smiled as kindly as I could. "How are you doing?" She growled furiously, like a dog. She always was a bit of a bitch. Ha, ha, ha...

"I'm fine." She sniffed. "I'm improving under my Captain's hands-oh!" She'd realized what she had just said, and she went from scarlet to dead white. My hands tightened on her, as I processed what she'd said.

_**"What?"**_ I let out, knowing that my eyes had gotten darker and I was shaking slightly. "Your Captain's **hands? **You **dare** to let anyone but me touch you?" She was now looking around, eyes fearful, and Annie was positioning herself to grab Akiko.

I stood up, and Akiko tumbled to the floor and down the steps of my throne, her hair cascading around her. "**You are not welcome here.**" I spat furiously, as she scrambled up and was surrounded by my pawns. She was not a Queen in this game of chess, but a pawn of mine. She'd better not get out of her place. "Kill her."

Pawns being my soldiers. Sighing, I sat back on my throne and gazed at her as they drew their weapons, and she snarled furiously, going into the animal position of hunting dog. First, Violet bore down on her, wielding a spear angrily and slashing for all she had. Akiko dodged to the left, rolling behind her and sweeping out Violet's legs- she then kicked her into the wall. Violet dropped the spear as she slammed into the door, and Akiko grabbed it.

**Akiko POV**

Oh, man. I don't want to fight these guys. My old colleagues! Hell, I owed some of these people my life.

Yellow, looking slightly sad, drew her sword and ran to me, whilst behind me, I felt White picking up his scythe... Scythe! That reminds me! _Suza!_ Quickly, I sprinted to Yellow and leaped up and kicked her around the head before propelling myself off of her shoulders and bringing the spear straight into White's face.

Looking around frantically, I gazed at the faces of my old friends. Not one had short auburn hair and the same piercing blue eyes that were damned genetic. No-one looked like Suza. Was it possible she- _No! _I dispelled the thought from my mind, and focused.

Suza. Suza. Suza. The thought overcame my mind. Suza... I was so selfish. Only thinking about what had happened to me? Poor Suza... _My little baby sister._ The natural desire to protect was starting to make me feel dizzy, filling me with anger. What if she's not okay? My mind raced, and I wanted to scream. I can't deal with this.

Levi. Please, Levi.

_Where is Levi?_ I screamed in my head. How can he not be here? To save me and Suza? He always saves me. WHY IS HE NOT HERE THIS TIME? WHAT DO I DO? I can't fight my way to Suza! I'm not good enough. I'm just not good enough!

_Stop giving up!_

_Don't be so damn negative. You can do it if you give a shit._

_You'll get it sometime._

_Stay calm, Akiko. And fight._

**Levi POV**

_"I'll see you later."_ Akiko... Was she still in Wall Rose, practicing in the underground training room? Where the Titans were? Please, please, God let her be alive. If I've done anything to deserve heaven, I'll give it up. I'll go to hell. Let her be alive.

The thought of her being... _eaten_... My mind conjured up her screaming and bones snapping, and her yelling for me as her blood splashed all over some Titan's mouth and teeth. Had it happened? Is it happening? Will it happen?

Well, that's inevitable. We'll all meet our death at the hands of those foul demons. Even me.

_She'd been giving her bloody food to the orphans. What a moron. There's kindness, and then there's just being pathetic. She's so __**stupid.**_ Why don't I hate her? How will I ever replace her?

_**Is. She. Dead?**_

I jerked my head slightly, and I saw a little auburn-headed kid giving food to an elderly lady and giving her some water. The lady seemed to be crying, stroking a photograph of what looked like a son, and the kid just patted her on the back and then offered the lady a doll. The lady smiled through her tears, and the kid smiled.

I walked on, inwardly smirking a bit. In a good way. At least that kid's oblivious. And she's probably helped the elderly lady a good deal. Well, it's a good thing that they were both safe in Wall Shiina.

**Akiko POV**

"There's been an invasion of titans, by the way." Gavaldon called to me lazily. The second you leave, you'll be besieged by Titans. How _will _ you survive this, my dear Akko?"

_"SUCK A DICK!" _I yelled, my mind racing. He laughed with delight, because he knew what was happening. I was getting scared. When I get scared I transform. When I transform I kill people.

"Oh, just _do it_." He goaded, like he'd guessed what I was thinking. "Transform. No-one's stopping you." At the thought of me transforming, every one in the group shrunk back. A lot. Well, they have reason to. My Titan, the Magical Titan, was quite scary. That's why I don't change into her. I suppose I'll have to now.

_My Titan Form is a 12 meter class with waist length brown hair and a unique ability like my sister, Annie. My Titan can control the temperature of my body at will, often providing useful steam cloud cover. Under pressure, I can also do this as a human, but it was not ever recorded in a controlled environment. My Titan also has a weaker body structure than most due to constantly needing to lose body parts to gain the advantage of steam cover, but I have increased eyesight in my Titan Form to see through the steam. Also, it has a habit of standing on it's tiptoes._

There it is. Annie uses ice and rock to fight, I use steam and heat. Sisters. Suza... Well, I hope she doesn't develop a form. It's what we are, after all. Annie, ice, me, steam, and Suza probably water. Maybe liquidlike limbs. Ew.

Yes, good. Cloud your mind with nonsensical thoughts. Don't think about changing. I was aware that some part of me was groaning with effort, and another part screaming, but I tried to ignore it and just not change. But I could already feel my arms shaking, and my legs wobbling. I tossed my head back and forth. No! I can't change!

Everyone backed away, even Gavaldon, as I let out ripping screams. I barely heard him saying something like "Well! Someone restrain her!" And people came close to me. People can't come close to me. I hurt people who come close to me, because I am evil. Akiko is evil. Gavaldon says it. It must be true. No. I can't hurt people. Stop it. Don't come closer. Don't touch me. _**DON'T TOUCH ME! STOP IT! GET AWAY!**_ I dimly realized I was saying everything aloud.

Picking myself up, as black spots formed over my eyes, I ran towards the exit so my form didn't break through the structure, and I didn't hurt people. As I ran up the closest stairs to me, hitting the sides as I sprinted, I felt people following me. Smashing into the door, I broke through it and hit open sunlight. I was in desperation mode, where I could tear through metal if I had to.

As I hit open sunlight, I jumped, higher than I could normally, and the flesh ripped out of me. My body twisted and jerked as the flesh poured from my skin, and I was buffeted by the strength and speed it came out with. Tossed around, I felt huge limbs cover mine, like a fleshy protection web. They expanded hugely, and as my legs formed, I stepped forward, and I span out, steam exploding from my eyes fiercely. My arms exploded out, and the head stretched over mine, and grew. Glowing blue eyes opened on my huge form, and a roar tore through my throat, hollered to the sky. My arms finished growing, and the form's legs bent into a crouch and skidded backwards, facing away Gavaldon's underground fortress and looking to the inside of Wall Maria, seeing if what Gavaldon said what was true. My neck finished healing.

I landed in the inside of the forehead positioned carefully, my arms and legs pointing, and I closed my human eyes. As my Titan had such advanced eyesight, I didn't stay in the neck. I lay behind the right eye. But literally right behind it, and connected to the pupil, so if someone stuck a sword in there, they would kill me. So as I connected my eyesight, I waited to see if what he said was true. Sight bloomed across my vision, and I began to look.

And I found a massacre in store for me.

There were... Titans _everywhere._

**Levi POV**

I sighed as I descended the stairs up to the top of Wall Shiina. We'd been played, not knowing that the Titan's had some sort of secret weapon waiting for us. Akiko was probably dead. And I'd lost a great many soldiers.

Looking back on it, it's probably a good thing that she died. I mean, she never was a very useful soldier.

_Who do you think you're fooling?_ I imagined her laughing vindictively. _Miserable, dramatic old git._ She probably would have said something like that. But she'd also have known that I can't concentrate on her right now, because I'm angry and I want to go kill the fuckers. Every last one of them.

I reach the top of Wall Shiina, and look down. Carnage, everywhere. I see people still being eaten, but I know that I can't do anything. By the time I got there, it'd be no use, but I'm going to go down and kill some anyway. Vengeance, anger management, one of the two.

"Excuse me?" I hear a young voice ask, and I whip around to see a small, auburn headed girl. She was dressed in a threadbare shift, and had bare feet. Her hair was cut in a rough, spiky pageboy, and her eyes were downcast.

"How did you get up here?" I ask, in a monotone. She gestures to the door I came through, and I gave a bitter glare. She didn't react.

"I'm looking for a girl." She said quietly.

"Aren't we all?" I sighed, and then something vicious overtook my words. "She's probably dead." The girl giggled, and I stared at her hard. A peal of silvery giggles. Christ. She sounds exactly like Akiko does when she giggles. Except that Akiko tends to snort and chuckle more, and a little more violently. More laughing with feel than beauty. But their laughs had the same sound of pure delight. "Why the fuck are you laughing?"

"My sister couldn't die!" She laughed. "She joined the army a while ago."

"It's probably more likely that she's dead, then."

"She might have spoken about me." The girl stepped forward slightly, and a sudden gust of wind blew her fringe back. I was met with piercing blue eyes, the colour of a wintry sky.

"Oh? What's her name, then? And what's yours?"

"Annie Leonhart. And my name's Suza."

"Annie Leonhart..." I muttered, going through names and faces. "No, it doesn't ring any bells, kid. Try the sacs of food deposited by the Titans-" She gave a gasp at this, and I felt slightly guilty. "Go through the registers, kid. Check up at the army stations." She nodded, and turned to walk away.

"I have another sister." She said levelly, turning around again. With that, she walked close to me, and showed me her eyes in full. "Her name is Akiko Kuranaya." I gazed at her. Was she trying to joke, or did she genuinely have a sister with the same name? Whatever the case, I said nothing, but she went on, her fists starting to clench in anger.

"She's not dead, I know that much. She's been talking to me." She looked at me cunningly, and for the first time, I caught a glimpse of cold apathy in her eyes. "Sending me letters about how she's got a new captain and although she doesn't much like him as a captain, she respects him as a person. He's the kindest man she ever saw, he's the nicest man, he's the manliest man..." I jerked back, and it was my turn to smirk. She raised an eyebrow.

"Akiko wouldn't say stuff like that. I haven't done anything nice to her. Ever." She shook her head.

"Are you crazy? You saved her from Gavaldon, and death at the hands of Titans four or five times. You constantly train her to be better. You encourage her with praise she never received from Gavaldon. You solve her problems. You do all the cooking and cleaning, and never expect anything out of it. She goes on." I raised my eyebrows. _Akiko_, of all people, wrote letters like a lovesick maiden?

As if reading my mind, she assured me, "But this is just me, as a sister, reading inbetween the lines. Here." She handed me a white manilla envelope and I tucked it into my chest pocket. "Open that when you know for sure she's dead." She smiled slightly, and I nodded. Still speechless.

"Oh. Oh, dear." She said suddenly, looking behind me. "Oh, that's not good at all." She was looking at the carnage, and I rolled my eyes.

"No, princess, it's not." She smiled slightly, a bead of sweat breaking on her forehead, and I stared at her. Surely she knew what had happened?

"Well. I. Well. I'm going to go sort something out. Cheerio!" With that, she stepped up to the barrier on Wall Sina, and neatly jumped off. With a yell, I grabbed the space she'd dropped out of, but too late. She was gone.

Suicide.

**Akiko POV**

_Palm strike to the neck. Bite them in the neck. Rip their heads off. Slice through the neck. Just fucking kill them all. _

_Is this what I exist for? To lie, unconscious, whilst people around me die? Really? Crushing of the skull inwardly. I hate this life. I hate everyone! Why are they so disgusting? Why do they break hearts and torture people for fun? Why do they do it? WHY?_

_Did I do something wrong? My Titan weeps as she fights, steam constantly gushing from my pores. Titans fall beneath me, with barely a second to see me before I crush through them. People are still here, though. I'm in a deserted part of Wall Maria. But people are still in the other parts. We can't let them see us._

_So, I let my Titan go. She dissolves into steam around me, and I draw the gear I took from Yellow too. The steam propels me into the air, and I connect from house to house. So quick. I'm still in Titan mode, not thinking straight. My brain hurts. So do my eyes. I need to think like a human. And..._

"Normal Akiko time." I mutter under my breath. "Shouldn't be too hard." I prefer to run, though, and I sprint through the streets, looking for Titans. I feel screams behind me, and I whirl around to see an elderly lady grabbed by a Titan. She struggles hard, but in vain, and I see what looks like an elderly man's corpse, on the floor. Crushed.

Attaching my hooks to the ankle of the hideous beast, I whirl up it and do a wall run-esque sprint up it's back, over the shoulder, and down the arm. Unconsciously positioning the blades how Levi would, I spin around the arm and I feel the arm detaching. The Titan screams, and the woman falls to the ground, cushioned by the now limp fingers encasing her.

I run back up the stump of the arm, and kick the Titan in the face, digging my foot into its eye. Oh yes. This is more lke how it felt in Gavaldon! I roar with excitement as it hollers in pain, and makes a feeble attempt to bite me. "Nice try." I call, confident now. "But you need a little work." With that, I dig my other hand into its good eye, and climb over its face, sliding over the bald head and stabbing my sword into the neck as I fall down.

As the steam rids the world of another Titan, I rush to the lady, and she is removing herself, somewhat gracefully, from the fingers. She bows to me thankfully, and I notice that she's Japanese. Traditional, eh?

"Thank you." She says in a soft voice. "Me and my husband are very grateful-" With that, she pauses, and sighs. "Well, he would have been grateful. And I thank you for allowing me to leave this world with pride. May I borrow your sword?" I gaze at her, and hand it to her wordlessly. She positions it swiftly above her stomach, and I gasp in horror.

"No!" She stops, and looks at me, tears filling her eyes.

"You are so young and beautiful, so you would not understand. But... When you love someone this much, living without them simply isn't an option. My dear..." She softly pats my head. "I can see in your eyes that you have love. Don't waste it." I turn away as the sword slices through her back, and she grasped my sleeve.

"Don't... leave me..." She gasped slightly, and I nodded. She wanted me to stay with her whilst she bled out. I held her hands, and slowly sank down with her, above her, as I laid her next to her husband. And then she died, her eyes closed with the knowing of what was going to happen. But she wasn't scared. She was... happy.

I sighed, and I wanted to cry, but I heard a young man's screams somewhere else, and I turned around, and walked away. Left them alone together. Forever. I drew another sword, and leaped up over the houses. Luckily, I landed right on top of the screaming teenager and what looked like his entire family slaughtered before him.

Three titans. Wow. All little baby five-meters, but still. I span in a wide circle, slicing through one's legs and as it fell back, bringing my sword through the neck. One makes a grab for the teenager, but he jumps back. I apply a little of the steam in my cannisters, and speed towards the grabby Titan, slicing it up numerous times.

And the last one, the one still chewing on what looked like a little sister. She was still screaming, and... salvageable? I run faster than I've ever run before, and cut off half of it's head, revealing the girl's legs inside. She's still connected to them, that's good. I grab the teeth with my hand and force them back, before reaching down the gullet with my sword and stabbing it in a diagonal motion, hoping I've got it in the right place. I did, and it fell back, dead.

I pull the girl out, and immediately assess her wounds. Teeth marks all over her... Just like mine. She's whimpering in agony, and as the boy cries over her, I give her a brave grin and give her something to focus on as I tend to her.

"Hey, there, listen. What's your name?" She can't speak, but the boy says something like Arcadia. "Well, Arcadia, you'll be just fine. Look." I pulled up my shirt, and show her the teeth marks. "I got them too. And I lived. You'll be just fine." At that, she relaxes, and her blood stops pumping out at such a rate.

I then start to apply pressure, tending like I never have before. I work with a fury, angrily sorting her wounds out. She fades in and out of consciousness, calling for her brother every time she can't see him. He holds her hand frantically.

I make conversation with the boy when she's out for a few minutes. "Hey, was that everyone in your family?" I ask sorrowfully. He nods quietly, and then sighs.

"Even mother, and she was about to have a baby too. But she's..." He gestured towards one of the Titans, and I winced. Bad topic. Arcadia wakes up, calling for him (She calls him Mark) and we talk no more.

Finally, when I think she's okay to carry, I debate on what to do next. "I don't think we can carry her ourselves." He said nervously. I agreed.

"Can't we signal them perhaps?" I sigh, and I know what I have to do. It was obvious all along. I have to change again. I'm about to do this, when I spot someone zipping over the rooftops.

"HEY! HEY! THIS IS AKIKO! WE NEED MEDICAL HELP HERE!" The person stops, and zips down, dropping in front of me. The black hair is shadowed, but I'd remember it anywhere.

Levi. And he brought a squadron with him.

**Levi POV**

Her brown hair runs down her shoulders, and I want to embrace her and scream. But I don't. There's no time. There's just no time. So straight away, I move to the body she's protecting, and I look at her wounds. She's as good as dead, but I say nothing. If Akiko wants to, we can try.

"I have an idea." Akiko says quickly, and as fifteen people drop behind me, I nod. The squadron listens with interest.

"Okay, so if we carry her, using two people, the other people can protect us as we go. I know a small detour back to the gate, to get a cart, and hopefully a horse. My old home. Can we do this?"

I turn around, and face my squadron. Some seem worried about it, but people like Petra, Olou, Eld and Gunther and so on are grinning with the idea. "They seem fine." I say dryly. "Gunther and Eld, you carry." I begin to delegate. "Olou, Petra, Sakura, Mick, you take front left. You four take front right. I'll go ahead with Akiko, and the four or so left behind take back. Good?" Everyone nods, and Eld goes over to the girl, speaking gently and softly.

Before we go, I gesture to Akiko. She turns to me, and immediately sees my eyes. She draws me in, and we tightly embrace each other so hard I can feel the breath being squeezed from me. "Need a hug, Captain?" She says, slightly teasingly, but lays her head on my neck.

I mutter "Don't push your luck." And then release her.

We take positions. The girl- Arcadia- can't hold onto someone's back, so Eld is holding her at the front and Gunther at the back. Someone ran into a random house and took a bed sheet, and it's a sort of hammock. She seems slightly comfortable. Her brother runs next to her, always watching over her.

Everyone else, except me and Akiko, positions themselves on roofs. I yell "Go!" And we begin to run. As me and Akiko have to go forwards, we speed ahead, keeping a watch out for Titans.

It's amazingly quiet, and I turn to Akiko as we soar. "Akiko. Have you realized what's gonna happen when we get to the gate? They won't open that, you know." She nods miserably.

"I have a plan." She sighs. "If we can get her attached to someone's back-"

"What, tie her?" She nods, and I sigh. It's ridiculous, but it might work. "And her brother too?" She nods again.

"Titan!" I hear someone yell, and Petra and Olou detach themselves to deal with it. Me and Akiko fall back slightly, to protect Arcadia, just in case.

_Eventually, we didn't manage to get to Akiko's house, so we had to run six miles to the wall, but we made it eventually. We tied Arcadia to my back and Mark to Akiko's, and then scaled the wall. When we made it down, she was one of the few survivors to make it back, and she was eternally grateful. Mark promised fervently to pay Akiko back, and even seemed a little in love. _

_I commended my squadron for their work, and sent them to bed. They were all exhausted. So was I, but I would talk to Akiko for now._

**Akiko POV**

I stripped myself off of my filthy clothes, and lay back on my bed, exhausted. Levi lay next to me, but on his. We stared at each other, and a grin spread across my face.

"What's that smile about?" He asked, with a hint of interest. Wow. He must be tired.

"I just realized... Today, for the first time, I've saved a life, and not ended it. I mean, I've ended a life to save lives, but I've never just saved it."

"Me too." He said, thoughtfully. A ghost of a smile crossed his face, and I gazed at him. Getting up, I lay onto his bed, right next to him, and stared at him, up close. He raised an eyebrow, as if to ask why.

"Because," I explained. "You've never looked so happy before. I want to savour it and remember it." He sighed, and the smile was gone.

"Why would you want to make me smile?"

"Because I think you're beautiful." I blurted out, and went a dark crimson. He stared at me in shock.

"Really now. Well, aren't I the lucky bastard?" He muttered, and I giggled. He looked at me weirdly when I did that, so I asked why.

"In the same way me smiling makes you happy, you giggling makes me happy." I let out a deep, bellowing HA, HA, HA like a stodgy old man, and he poked my belly. I laughed again, this time giggling like a little girl, and he pinched my nose. I snorted, laughing like my usual self and he kissed my cheek.

I froze for a second, and went pink. "L-Levi, I-I-" He looked at me for a second, and it was as if he knew what I was going to say. 

"You're not in love with me." He said simply, and I nodded, humiliated.

"Well, I am- it's... It's just I promised my heart to another man." 

"Another man?"

**Levi POV**

"He was someone from my childhood. He made me happy. And he came from the army." She sighed, and I tried not to groan with the pain.

Had I just been refused? By Akiko? The... the one girl...

As bitter thoughts began to enter my mind, I felt a pressure on my chin, and it was Akiko, twisting my chin towards her. I allowed her to, and I felt my lips brush hers slightly. We both stayed there, so close but not touching, when all I wanted to do was hold her.

"No." The voice came from me, and she paused, looking at me with those blue eyes. "Don't torture yourself and me like this, Akiko. Don't do it." She stared at me. "You're not that girl." She nodded, and burrowed herself into my arms. She fell asleep instantly. I held her softly, my head atop hers, smoothing her hair down. A single tear escaped from my eyes, and a sharp gasp came from my lips. No. Don't lose control.

"And I'm not that guy... And I never will be."

**Jesus, I'm cruel, and Jesus, that was a long chapter. And long wait. I'm so sorry about that. And yes. The irony in that last scene is so brutal it could fight Chuck Norris, I mean Jesus CHRIST. Anyway.**

**Read and Review. Although I guessed you've probably already read if you're at the end. If not, get the eff back up there. And sorry. Review, please. I like reviews. I want to know if Akiko's a mary-sue or not QQ is she? **

**Loadsa love, Blood~~**


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